Cultural rights and citizenship in cultural policy: Taiwan and China

Abstract

From the 1990s, academia has paid increasing attention to cultural rights and cultural citizenship. This paper reviews existing literature on the construction of cultural rights and cultural citizenship and argues that cultural citizenship expands the concept of ‘citizenship’, promotes citizens’ consciousness, and confirms the content of ‘cultural rights’. The concept of cultural citizenship provides a new perspective from which to examine the challenges of cultural inequality, taste differences, symbolic struggle in cultural participation, and consumption. Based on western theories, this paper discusses the development of cultural citizenship and cultural rights in cultural policy in Taiwan and China, and it finds the tension between control and autonomy and between the government and the civil society in the practice of cultural citizenship. In Taiwan, most cultural policies are developed and implemented by the government, and those affected by them often do not have the necessary critical awareness to judge or examine them. In China, the protection of cultural rights provides a new type of control rather than autonomy from the Chinese Government. In both Taiwan and China, it is important to empower civil society to balance the governments’ control over the practice of cultural citizenship.

Keywords:

• cultural rights
• cultural citienship
• Taiwan studies
• Chinese studies

Notes

1. T.H. Marshall’s classical analysis of citizenship explains that traditional citizenship involves only three sets of rights: civil, political, and social. According to T.H. Marshall, the meaning of ‘citizenship’ has changed along with historical developments: from the requests for civil rights, equality, and freedom in the eighteenth century to the struggle for political rights, political participation, and the right to vote in the nineteenth century; and, in the twentieth century, the fight for social rights and the protection of minorities and their civil and political rights such as labour rights, welfare rights, and environmental rights (Barbalet 1988, pp. 26–27). It is now time to discuss ‘cultural rights’ as part of the concept of ‘citizenship’.

2. Young gave two reasons why equality needs to affirm rather than ignore group differences. First, the excluded groups are at a disadvantage in the political process, and ‘the solution lies at least in part in providing institutionalised means for the explicit recognition and representation of oppressed groups’ (Young, 1989:259).

3. Kymlicka suggests the term ‘multicultural citizenship’ and elaborates this in terms of three forms of migrant rights: self-government rights, polyethnic rights and special representation rights (Kymlicka 1995).

4. Cultural competence refers to the process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities, and protects and preserves the dignity of each. ‘Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system or agency or among professionals and enable the system, agency, or professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations’.

5. The main leader of Community Renaissance is Dr. Chen, Chi-Nan, who was the Vice Chief of the Committee of Cultural Affairs from 1993 to 1997 and the Chief of CCA from 2004 to 2006. Through his work, he has focused attention on the many problems of democracy in Taiwan and has introduced the concept of ‘community’ as the basis for common identity and the practice of democracy in Taiwan.

6. Many cultural policies are designed to protect the various cultural rights of the indigenous peoples. The government has worked to revive traditional indigenous festivals, maintain indigenous cultural heritage, reset tribal histories, and support indigenous folk in order to practice the right of the indigenous peoples to cultural participation. The establishment of indigenous TV broadcasts has promoted the right to participate in cultural life, the right to cultural identity, and the right to represent their groups. At the same time, the government has instigated a number of cultural policies aimed at reviving the indigenous languages, such as the bonus point in the educational systems and the language certificate in the employment market to improve the motivation of the younger generations to learn traditional languages (Lee 2003).

7. From CIP website: http://www.apc.gov.tw/main/docList/docList.jsp?cateID=A001114&linkParent=49&linkSelf=339&linkRoot=4 (in Chinese).

8. The revision of the Act of National Parks in 29 November 2000 removed the limitation on hunting by indigenous peoples. Available from: http://web.pts.org.tw/~abori/archives/001209/index.html (in Chinese).

9. The Act for self-government continues to be discussed in the government and parliament. In September of 2010, there was still no clear conclusion and legislation. Available from: http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/sep/23/today-p4.htm (in Chinese).

10. The multicultural policy in Taiwan has always been viewed as an issue of interest only for the minority groups themselves. The majority feels isolated from multicultural policy and other cultural differences. Multicultural policy does not improve mutual understanding between the various ethnic groups, nor encourage an open-minded attitude toward cultural differences (Wang 2004).

11. This announcement was provided by Dr. Chen, Chi-Nan in 2004, when he was the Chief of CCA. In 2004, CCA held some important activities to promote this concept, such as multiethnic festivals, ethnic cultural meetings, and visual arts exhibitions. However, this concept was not emphasized in cultural policy after 2006 when Dr. Chen finished his duty with CCA.

12. The main policies in ‘the Outline of Cultural Development and Plans’ are as follows: firstly, the government should increase its investment in cultural facilities, in particular to the western area and rural villages. In this plan, cultural investment would grow 15% every year. Secondly, the government should improve the ability, efficiency, and creativity of the cultural administration throughout the whole country. Thirdly, the government should provide better services by which minority groups can practice their cultural rights, such as the policy for free admission to public museums. Fourthly, the networks of public cultural service systems should be established to link big cities, cities, towns, and villages. Finally, a national information technology (IT) system should be formed to provide basic internet service for the whole country.

13. http://chinese.usembassy-china.org.cn/hrr2010.html.