Hegemony and Social Movements in Taiwan
The Puzzle
Why did deepening economic integration between Taiwan and China culminate in mass resistance?
Between 2008 and 2014, cross-Strait rapprochement advanced rapidly, backed by deepening economic ties and powerful political and business interests. Then the Sunflower Movement occupied Taiwan’s legislature and brought that trajectory into crisis.
Social Forces in the Re-Making of Cross-Strait Relations explains why. Drawing on extensive primary research, André Beckershoff shows how Taiwan’s large business conglomerates helped construct the project of cross-Strait integration, while a decade of social struggle built the organisations, capacities and competing visions that enabled movements to challenge it.
