DSPO 22A29 - Taiwan's Historical Trajectory

With a current population of 23.5 million, Taiwan is a fully independent state: it controls its borders, maintains its own defence capacities, is integrated into international trade – it is the 17th largest exporter and importer worldwide –, and its regime is representative of its population thanks to free and regular elections within a multiparty system. For all that, just about all states and international organizations do not recognize the Taiwanese state. Since its foundation in 1949, the People’s Republic of China has consistently claimed its sovereignty over Taiwan, and there has been a notable escalation in military pressure on the island since the early 2020s. Consequently, the time is ripe to fully understand Taiwan’s historical trajectory, as well as Taiwan’s current stake in a both globalized and conflicting world.

The course will trace Taiwan’s political and economic trajectory from a diachronic perspective: it will go back to the first waves of Chinese settlers in the 17th century, the fifty-year Japanese colonisation (1895-1945), the Chinese civil war and territorial partition in 1949, the Nationalist dictatorship and white terror, and finally Taiwan’s democratisation. In doing so, China’s trajectory will be addressed in parallel, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, cross-cutting issues and points of comparison will be addressed in each session through counterpoints that will place the Taiwan question within a broader disciplinary and historical context, such as colonial legacies, state capitalism, or democratisation processes.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to master Taiwan’s history and understand the importance of Sino-Taiwanese relations for regional and global security.

Seminar. Each session will begin with a critical review of two articles related to the topic at hand, presented by two or three students for 15 minutes, followed by a group discussion.

30%: a fifteen-minute oral presentation of two research articles related to each session by two or three students at the beginning of each session. The list and PDF of the articles will be given at the beginning of September.

30%: a fifteen-minute oral exam during which each student will expound the stake of the course and his/her main interests.

40%: a two-hour final written exam consisting of four questions. It will be graded according to the accuracy of the answers. No extra-knowledge than what is taught in the class is required.

No prior knowledge related to the topic of the course is required.

For each session, all students must read the two articles that will be presented orally by two or three of their classmates for 15 minutes so that they can participate in the group discussion that follows.