Foucauldian biopower in action: the case of sports events for the disabled in Taiwan, 1972–1992

Abstract

This paper explores the development of sports for individuals with disabilities in Taiwan from its inception in 1972 to 1992. We start by outlining games hosted at the national level and highlight how and why they were the first of their kind in the Sinophone world. Data are collected using Foucault’s genealogical method, and we use the concept of biopower to explore the state apparatus through which individuals with disabilities are controlled. This highlights how the Games for the Disabled were not simply a means to provide sporting opportunities but were also a vehicle through which the biopower of the sovereign was exerted. By staging the games, the authorities of Taiwan achieved the goal of governing bodies with disabilities in an effort to make subjugated citizens aware that individuals with disabilities should be utilised to contribute towards the nation’s greater good.

Keywords:

• Biopower
• disability sports
• Foucault
• Games for the Disabled
• Taiwan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party) is a political party in the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) that was founded by Sun Yat-Sen in1894. Later led by Chiang Kai-shek, the KMT ended the chaos of the Warlord Era in 1928. The KMT was the ruling party in mainland China until 1949, after which it retreated to Taiwan after being defeated by the Communist Party of China in the Chinese Civil War. In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party’s Chen Shui-Bian was elected as the president of Taiwan, thus ending the rule of the KMT and prompting a process of alterations in the party. Sources: http://www1.kmt.org.tw/english/index.aspx

2 Chiang Kai-Shek (also known as Chiang Chung-Cheng; Chinese: 蔣介石/蔣中正; 31 October, 1887–5 April, 1975) was a Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China between 1928 and 1975. Following Sun’s death in 1925, Chiang became the leader of the KMT. Chiang led China in World War II.

After retreating to Taiwan following KMT’s defeat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, Chiang’s army and the government entered into a period of dictatorial rule. Chiang maintained his intention to retake mainland China and ruled Taiwan stably as the President of the Republic of China and General of the KMT until his death in 1975.

3 Chiang Ching-Kuo (Chinese: 蔣經國; 27 April,1910–13 January, 1988), the son of Chiang Kai-Shek, was a politician and leader of Taiwan who succeeded his father to serve as the Premier of Taiwan between 1972 and 1978 and then as the President of the Republic of China from 1978 until his death in 1988. Chiang Ching-Kuo promoted the infrastructural development needed for economic growth, relaxed restrictions on media and speech, and ended martial law in Taiwan..

4 In Chinese: 小康計畫.

5 These 14 institutions are : Taipei Hospice, Taipei school for deaf and blind students, Taichung school for students with visual impairment, Taichung school for students with hearing impairments, Ren-Ai experimental school, Tainan school for students with hearing impairments, Mu-Kuang Welfare Hall for The Blind, Ling-Guang rehabilitation centre for children with polio, Victory Home, Xi-Le children’s home, Huei-Ming school for the blind, Children’s home of Grace and Gifts Lutheran Church, Xin-Xing primary and secondary school and the United for Blind of Four Counties team.

6 Huang Wen-Yao (Chinese: 黃文堯,1936–2015) graduated from the Department of Physical Education of Taiwan Normal University in 1958. He worked as a physical education teacher in high school, the speaker of the Changhua County Council, cadre of several sport federations.

7 To the best of our knowledge, the 1974 Games for the Disabled in Taiwan was the inception of the interregional games for the disabled organised by the governments of the Sinophone world, which has the largest population of people with disabilities in the world. This article discusses the emergence and operation of the Games for the Disabled in Taiwan and could serve as a springboard to understand how the authorities disciplined the bodies of people with disabilities through the Games in the Chinese-speaking region. See also Foucault and Michel, ‘Nietzsche, Genealogy, History’, 81.

8 Youth means the participants aged between 17 and 20 years old; teenage means the participants aged between 14 and 16 years old; pre-teens means the participants aged between 10 and 13 years old.

9 The China Youth Corps (CYC) (Chinese: 救國團) is a youth organisation in Taiwan. The CYC was established in 1952, and Chiang Ching-Kuo was its first chairperson. The original purpose of the CYC was to provide basic military training to youths before they were recruited into the KMT. Over time, the CYC lost much of its militaristic character and shifted its focus on the organisation of recreational activities such as Study Tours to Taiwan and military camps. The CYC became a non-governmental organisation on 28 August, 1989. Sources: https://www.cyc.org.tw/about#1

Generally speaking, the CYC represented a channel for the elite into the one-party state system. The CYC fostered Chiang Ching-Kuo’s cohorts, controlled the ideology of the young people, and disseminated the party’s ideology into college campuses (Li, Wei-Sung. ‘Research of Chiang Ching-Kuo and the China Youth Corps’, 1968–1988 [in Chinese]. National Central University, 2005, 117). It was for this reason that the CYC oversaw the administration and operation of the Games for the Disabled in (include the year here). As a result, members of the CYC were represented alongside government officials in the organising committee.

10 Chinese: 筷子打靶.

11 Interview with the President of Taipei Sports Association for the Physical Disabled, Wu Erh-Mo, 22 January 2016.

12 In Chinese: 自立自強.

13 In Chinese: 殘而不廢.

14 In Chinese it means: people do not believe what they hear about.