Fieldnotes From History (46)—Provincial Elections-g

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Fieldnotes From History."
One year ago today on Round and Square (25 June 2011)—Le Tour de la France: The Shoemaker Works

[a] Multitudes RF

Click below for other fieldnotes dealing with Taiwan's 1985 provincial elections:
Election 1         Election 2          Election 3          Election 4          Election 5          Election 6
Election 7         Election 8          Election 9          Election 10        Election 11        Election 12
Part of an occasional Round and Square series that follows the blog’s main theme (east meets west, round meets square, and past meets present), these snippets from my early fieldnotes are reproduced as they were written by hand—and then revised on an ancient desktop computer—during my first fieldwork stay in Taiwan (1985-1987).  All entries are the way that I left them when I returned to the United States in 1987—some nicely-stated and some embarrassing. Although the series began with my assumption that the entries can stand alone, I have found that separate comments and notes might help readers understand a world that is now, well, history. These are always separate from the original fieldnote.

The next several dozen entries in this series represent my memories—in the form of fieldnotes that were already well on their way to being letters—of Taiwan's provincial elections in November 1985. I had taken down what I call "jottings" at the time, and "now," two months later, I was ready to get a little bit more detail down in the form of fieldnotes. If you are somewhat unfamiliar with the five-stage process that framed my work habits even back then, it might be worth a quick look at the introduction to this series. Suffice it to say here that in Taiwan in 1985 I was working from "jottings" to "fieldnotes" most of the time. Every month or so, I would write a letter that made it all into a more sustained narrative. Even early on, I realized how powerfully the knowledge that I would be writing letters influenced my fieldnotes. You may see it, too. It has remained my method to this day.

[b] Fissures RF

Like many fieldnotes, these were "written up" (a term I dislike, but am occasionally willing to use) after the fact. I wonder if most students of anthropology know how common this is. The implications for research, eye-witness authenticity, and historiography are numerous. It is a reality that has never gone away for field researchers of all kinds, though, and I suspect that it never will.  

Comment
This note starts to get more deeply into analysis and even opinion. No one ever said that fieldnotes should be free of the latter, but the former is always most welcome. In this case, it came time to get some perspective on the seemingly constant drumbeat in the media that elections such as these could "only" happen on Taiwan, and that the mainland was a place of backwardness, heavy-handedness, and bureaucracy. Remember that it was still three years before 1989; that year's events would show a fairly significant contrast between the two systems, but they hadn't happened yet. My only point in writing this note was to show the limits of "democracy" in a political entity that was still—if only technically—in a state of martial law. Difficult though it may be to see, there is not a political agenda behind these musings.

To this day, I tend to see the events of 1985 much the way I did back then. First, I felt that the elections were, indeed, significant, and showed a serious attempt to open the political system to groups that had not been represented in the past. Although Taiwan's democratic voyage has been a rocky one, it is very difficult to dispute that these first steps taken in 1985 did, in fact, lead to real structural and cultural change. Second, and in contrast to the first, I felt at the time—and still do today—that there was a strong tendency on the part of the press and people with whom I talked to overstate the dramatic changes these elections represented. They were mostly local, and they were limited. The temptation to draw great, overarching contrasts with the People's Republic, I felt, only detracted from the real significance of these events. Finally, and as I have mentioned, there was martial law. It hadn't gone away, yet almost no one spoke of it. This seemed disingenuous in the extreme, and I would point it out today just as strongly as I did then.

[c] Potential RF

Events have proven everyone "right" in one way or another. I am just about as comfortable with my analysis now as I was then, even though I would put emphases in slightly different places. The growth of democratic institutions in the Republic of China has been impressive, and is as strong as almost anywhere in Asia. Finally, the People's Republic, for all of the critiques heaped upon it from across the Taiwan Strait...has managed to make a place for itself in the world these days. You might have noticed it.

What does it all mean? This is history and culture, people. And I'm not Hegel.

Notes

[1] Comparison to the PRC dominated then much more than it does today in the ROC's internal media discussions. In some ways, the 1985 election brought all of the comparative rhetoric to a head, and resulted in a great deal of chiding of the PRC in editorials and news articles.

[2] The height of contrast-drawing occurred (as I have noted) three years later, in the wake of the events of Tiananmen in 1989. The groundwork for the "free" v.s. "forced" rhetoric that dominated news stories throughout 1989 (and beyond) was laid, I feel, in the very coverage I was assessing in these fieldnotes.

[d] Range RF

[3] I read the government-run 中央日報 every day during this stretch—it is the source of a number of my quotations and references in these notes. In fact, I regularly bought five or six newspapers during the elections. Yet it was only for the government paper that I got much response. I recall looks of incredulity-bordering-on-disgust on the faces of everyone from news stand operators to patrons in the coffee shops that were beginning to dot Taipei at the time. One person asked "why would you buy that piece of garbage?" I explained that I wanted to read and hear a wide range of opinions, including the government's. Most people just shrugged, but there was a good deal of skepticism about that particular newspaper.

__________________________________________

15 February 1986
Taipei
Elections in the Republic of China cannot really be compared with those on the Chinese mainland. Within their tightly controlled sphere, elections on Taiwan are free and open; those held on the mainland remain rigidly controlled at all levels. The Republic of China feels it has a right, and many would agree, to compare its democratic institutions favorably with those in the People's Republic. No theme is so prevalent throughout the year—throughout, in fact, the entire history of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The Nationalist government on Taiwan busily compares itself, its economy, and its election practices with those of its northern neighbors. Although some rhetoric addresses issues of world democracy and the ROC's place in it, most people I talk to (and the tone of most press coverage) feel that the only comparison which should be made is that between the “two Chinas.” 

The Republic of China on Taiwan holds free and fair elections, among the most democratic in the non-Western world. But elections on Taiwan are still not a “right” of the people. Elections are granted by the government; they are a privilege, and they are spoken of (especially in the Guomindang-run 中央日報) as incremental steps that might be furthered if people act correctly. The electorate is warned that its privileges will be withdrawn if it does not act responsibly, and this seems not to be an idle threat. Although it is not mentioned often in the press (and almost never in conversation), the island is still under martial law. Elections, while significant, cannot yet have the full force of "the people" behind them. This is the reality of martial law, whether muted in tone or not.

[e] Overarching RF

Click below for other fieldnotes dealing with Taiwan's 1985 provincial elections:
Election 1         Election 2          Election 3          Election 4          Election 5          Election 6
Election 7         Election 8          Election 9          Election 10        Election 11        Election 12