Are We Living in Different Taipeis? — In Search of Taipei’s Subjectivity: 1994-2002
Author: Ya-han Chuang, Yi-ting Wang, Wei-li Wu
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
Departing from the analytical approach of political psychology and combining some scope of cultural studies as well, this article is trying to explore how Taipei City perceives and performs its subjectivity politically and culturally. The first Taipei City Mayor election in 1994 aroused the city to construct its self-identity and rewrite inner boundaries; since then the two mayors—Chen Shui-Bian and Ma Ing-Jiuo– have revealed their distinct imagination of what Taipei should be/have, which stem from their specific ethnic backgrounds and identity proposition, and therefore their policies are not as neutral as looked but dependent on their different recognitions of history. Meanwhile, various city inhabitants also yearn for idiosyncratic memories or attachment for identification that could be neglected or consoled through different policies. Whereas the consensual citizen identity is still questionable, individuals can nevertheless articulate alternative possibility of communication through consumption but also brings about predicaments to Taipei embedded in the global capitalism structure.