標題:
【演講】Ketty W. Chen:Social Movement and Taiwan's Democratic Quality
時間:
2013年12月6日(週五)14:30-16:30
地點:
中央研究院人文館南棟社會所802會議室(臺北市南港區研究院路二段128號)
主辦單位:
中央研究院社會所
主講人:
Ketty W. Chen(臺灣大學人文社會高等研究院訪問學人)
內容簡介:
演講摘要
One of the essential criteria for a liberal democracy is the citizens’ ability to assemble to express their political opinion or discontent. From the series of protests and social movements during the first year of President Ma’s second term, a few interesting observations can be made: 1) Civil organizations, student groups and NGOs have taken the place of political parties and became organizers and leaders of the protests; 2) Social injustice, public safety, maintenance of democratic values, such as freedom of expression and press, are drawing the largest numbers of citizens to the street, instead of the traditional political divide such as, green vs. blue, independent vs. unification, Taiwanese vs. Mainlander; 3) One can also observe participation from various stratum of socioeconomic background and age groups, transcending support for specific political parties. In addition, increasing number of students and the youth population are becoming involved in social movements, political and social issues advocacy. All these serve as an indication to the quality of democracy of Taiwan. As Taiwan maintains its democratic quality, it also secures and solidifies the country’s alliance with other democratic nations.
The Ma administration in the past year, however, has been utilizing increasing harsh measures to deal with protesters, such as charging the demonstrators with serious criminal offense like endangering public safety, obstruction of justice and threat to national security. The behavior of the Ma administration led to a petition of more than one thousand practicing lawyers, 1/5 of the country’s total counselors, to urge the administration to cease using the law and law enforcement against its critics and political dissidents.
This lecture will first discuss the major demonstrations in the past year as the lecturer has experienced it first hand and the issues associated with the demonstrations. Then, the lecturer will discuss the extent to which maintaining the quality of Taiwan’s democracy as a tool in securing Taiwan’s international space and relations with her allies.
講者簡介
Dr. Ketty W. Chen is currently a visiting scholar at the Institute of Advanced Studies of Humanities and Social Sciences at National Taiwan University. Dr. Chen received her doctoral degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma, specializing in comparative politics, international relations and political philosophy. Prior to her post in Taiwan, Dr. Chen taught American Politics and International Relations as an associated faculty at Collin College in Plano, Texas and US-China relations at Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
Dr. Chen has Master’s degrees in political science and international relations from the University of Oklahoma and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and psychology from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Chen’s research papers and articles appeared in publications such as the The Diplomat, Taiwan International Studies Quarterly, University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute blog, the Taipei Times and the Chronicle Herald. She is the author of a number of papers including, “Disciplining Taiwan – The Kuomintang’s Methods of Control during the White Terror Era”, “From Hegemonic Party to Catch-All Party – The Political Transformation of the KMT” and “The End of One-Party Dominance – A Comparative study of Taiwan and Mexico”. Dr. Chen was quoted in a number of publications and media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, LA Times, Voice of America, Libération and Le Monde. She also appeared on Al Jazeera-English as a commentator during the 2012 presidential election in Taiwan.
Dr. Chen is currently authoring a book on the political resilience of the Kuomintang and conducting fieldwork on Taiwanese voters’ choice.
系統號:
A-002321