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Abstract
This article reviews existing literature on the construction of cultural citizenship, and argues that cultural citizenship expands the concept of ‘citizenship’, promotes citizens' consciousness and ensures the protection of minority rights. Since the 1990s, three cultural policies have arisen related to cultural citizenship in Taiwan: ‘Community Renaissance’, ‘Multicultural Policy’ and the ‘Announcement of Cultural Citizenship’. ‘Cultural citizenship’ has expanded the concept of citizenship in two ways. First, it has led to the consideration of the minority rights of Taiwanese indigenous peoples, the Hakkas, foreign brides and migrant workers in ‘citizenship’; and second, it has placed emphasis on ‘cultural rights’ in addition to civil rights, political rights and social rights. This article begins by exploring what approach to cultural citizenship is used in cultural policy, and what approach is suitable for practising cultural citizenship in Taiwan. I argue that minority groups practise their cultural rights with the public participation of Community Renaissance. Taiwan's case bears out Stevenson's view: a society of actively engaged citizens requires both the protection offered by rights and opportunities to participate. Finally, this article shows the challenges and contradictions of cultural citizenship in Taiwan: the loss of autonomy and the continuation of cultural inequality.
Notes
1. For example, Kymlicka (Citation2005) discuss the development of multiculturalism in non-western countries, and compares the differences in multiculturalism as experienced in western democracies versus other areas of the world such as Asia, Africa and even Eastern Europe. In addition, He (Citation2005) discusses the challenges and difficulties of practising western liberal multiculturalism in China. He shows that Chinese-style multiculturalism is limited to such ‘soft areas’ as cultural production, distribution and symbol formation. If we move to the political institutions of multiculturalism, such as political autonomy and self-government for ethnic groups, national security considerations take precedence over minority rights (He Citation2005, p. 79).
2. Young gave two reasons why equality needs to affirm rather than ignore group difference. 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 Citation1989, p. 259). These procedural measures should include public funds for advocacy groups, guaranteed representation in political bodies and veto rights over specific policies that affect a group directly. Second, the excluded groups often have distinctive needs, which can only be met through group-differentiated policies such as language rights, land rights for indigenous groups and reproductive rights for women (Young Citation1990, pp. 175–183).
3. Kymlicka (Citation1995) 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. For Kymlicka, claims of self-government mean devolving political power to a political unit substantially controlled by the members of the national minority, and substantially corresponding to their historical homeland or territory. It is important to note that these responses are not temporary measures or a remedy for a form of oppression that will be eliminated. Polyethnic rights are intended to help ethnic groups and religious minorities express their cultural particularity and pride without hampering their success in the economic and political institutions of the dominant society. Special representation rights have attracted increasing attention in western societies. A more representative process would include members of ethnic and racial minorities, women, the poor and the disabled. Thus, more and more countries have provided special representation rights for particular groups such as women, indigenous people and racial minorities (Kymlicka Citation1995).
4. The categories include: rights to physical and cultural survival, rights to association and identification with cultural community, rights to and respect for cultural identity, rights to physical and intangible heritages, rights to religious belief and practice, rights to freedom of opinion, expression and information, rights to choice of education and training, rights to participation in elaboration of cultural policies, rights to participation in cultural life and rights to create, rights to choice of endogenous development, and rights to people's own physical and cultural environment (Nieć Citation1998).
5. 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 recognises, 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’ (NASW 2000, p. 61).
6. See Bennett and Mercer (Citation1998).
7. There are four main ethnic groups in Taiwan: Taiwanese indigenous peoples, the Hakkas, the Hokkeins and the mainlanders. To aid the reader unfamiliar with the ethnic make-up of Taiwan, what follows is a short history of these four ethnic groups.
Taiwanese indigenous peoples:
Taiwanese indigenous peoples are native to the island of Taiwan. They are Austronesian and are of Malayo-Polynesian descent. They share a very close blood relationship and appearance with other indigenous people in Malaysia, the Philippines and some islands in the Pacific Ocean. They comprise over 11 different groups, each with its own language, culture, social system, lifestyle and distinct physical appearance. Their population is about 2–3% of the whole population of Taiwan.
The mainlanders:
The mainlanders are those who escaped to Taiwan from China along with the KMT government from 1945 to 1949. That group included administrators of the KMT party, government members, military men and their families, and people who wanted to escape the war. They included members of the ruling class in the KMT government, uneducated military men and ordinary people. Today the mainlander population comprises 12–15% of the whole population of Taiwan, occupying a smaller percentage than either the Hokkeins or the Hakkas. The KMT mainlanders controlled the government in Taiwan from 1949 to the late 1980s, and thus they are viewed as ‘the dominant group’ in political, cultural, economic and social terms.
The Hakkas:
The Hakka people comprise a unique ethnic group with a long history in Mainland China. In the Ching Dynasty, many Hakkas lived in Canton Province. Afterwards, some Hakkas moved to Taiwan, some moved to Southeast Asia (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia) and some continued to live in Mainland China. The Hakkas arrived in Taiwan about 300 years ago, later than the Hokkeins. Today they make up 15–18% of Taiwan's population, making it the second largest group in Taiwan. There are no clear differences in appearance among the mainlanders, the Hakkas and the Hokkeins. The main differences are related to language, traditional culture and lifestyle.
The Hokkeins:
The Hokkeins are the largest ethnic group in Taiwan, around 65% of the total population. Their ancestors emigrated from Fu-Jian province in the south-eastern part of Mainland China in the seventeenth century.
8. The main leader of Community Renaissance is Dr Chi-Nan Chen, who was the Vice Chief of the CCA 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. Community Renaissance brought together a range of ideas from both western societies and Japan. First, it reflected the notion of ‘American democracy’. Chen's concepts of democracy and civil society were greatly influenced by the views of Alexis de Tocqueville, according to whom the public participation of citizens is the only sound basis for a genuine democracy and civil society. Chen has thus subscribed to the notion that the practice and learning of democracy should be grounded in community. Second, Community Renaissance has been influenced by the idea of ‘community architecture’ in the UK. This idea advocates that architectural decisions be based on the participation of users, e.g. through community design and community landscaping. It emphasises the importance of active participation by community residents. Third, the ‘Machitsukuri’ (a communal movement and community reconstruction in Japan) also provided a good basis for Community Renaissance. The content of the ‘Machitsukuri’ included the promotion of local or communal history and culture, the protection of local customs and practices, the natural environment, the nurture of local talent, and the establishment of local or communal organisations, the creation of communal systems, the increase of local works, and the improvement of communal living conditions (Chen and Chen Citation1998, p. 29).
9. This plan was for the period 1995–2001. It aimed to balance the cultural development of urban and rural areas, implement basic cultural construction, and encourage people to participate in community cultural activity.
10. This plan was for 1996–2001. It aimed to help local governments set up galleries and museums for their local traditions and cultures to enhance local culture, increase residents' identity and encourage their participation in community affairs.
11. This plan was for 1995–1998. It aimed to encourage residents to care for their historical buildings and improve their environment to reconstruct local cultural property.
12. These plans included: guidance on the reuse and exploitation of cultural resources, the drawing up of cultural pictures, the creation of cultural property, education in cultural property and the marketing of cultural property.
13. For example, the ceremony of ‘Playing with Lions in Yu-Tian’ has been criticised because ‘in order to construct the common identity of community, it limits other possibilities for other identities in the community, and finally it represents inequality in class, gender and ethnicity in the community’ (Mu Citation1999, p. 71).
14. The Department of Education and Culture in the CIP has several responsibilities: to consider, work out and negotiate indigenous education and culture; to research, preserve and spread the indigenous language; to train and foster indigenous people; and to improve and support indigenous media, cultural organisations and activity. The main duties of the CIP are to formulate laws and policy to support the development of indigenous culture, and to provide sponsorship for indigenous cultural and educational groups.
15. 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 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 Citation2003).
16. For example, many indigenous parents believe that it is not necessary to teach their mother tongue to their children. If the parents have money to do so, they tend to send their children to urban areas to learn Mandarin Chinese or English (Huang and Xiong Citation2003).
17. From CIP website: http://www.apc.gov.tw/main/docList/docList.jsp?cateID = A001114&linkParent = 49&linkSelf = 339&linkRoot = 4 (in Chinese).
18. Measures in ‘The Plan to Promote the Hakka Culture within Six Years’ (CHA 2002) include: helping to establish Hakka cultural workshops and artists villages; setting up Hakka cultural centres to help local governments and communities promote Hakka culture; and reconstructing Hakka cultural life by improving Hakka cultural activities, recording Hakka cultural life and creating traditional Hakka culture (CHA 2002, pp. 6–12). Since then, the main cultural policies of the CHA from 2002 to 2010 have included: the improvement of Hakka language education; development of a Hakka academic community; the improvement of Hakka media (TV and radio); the development of Hakka industries and economy, such as Hakka tourism and Hakka festivals; and the construction of a global Hakka network (CHA 2010). From the CHA website: http://www.hakka.gov.tw/public/Data/032514321871.pdf (in Chinese).
19. The revision of the Act of National Parks in 29 November 2000 removed the limitation on hunting by indigenous peoples. From website: http://web.pts.org.tw/∼abori/archives/001209/index.html (in Chinese).
20. The Act for self-government continues to be discussed in the government and parliament. In September 2010 there was still no clear conclusion and legislation. From website: http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2010/new/sep/23/today-p4.htm (in Chinese).
21. 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 towards cultural differences (Wang Citation2004).
22. This announcement was provided by Dr Chi-Nan Chen 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 emphasised in cultural policy after 2006 when Dr Chen finished his duty of CCA.