Hakka Ethnic Policy in Taiwan─ A Perspective from Contemporary Liberalist Theories of Justice

• Main Authors: Chiu,chiichan, 邱啟展
• Other Authors: 詹哲裕
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/94382349547357909944

博士 === 國防大學政治作戰學院 === 政治研究所 === 100 === Researches on Taiwan's ethnic policies were rarely explored from the perspective of political philosophy or theories of justice in the past. To enrich the study on Hakka ethnic policies from this angle is the main motivation of the present dissertation. The present dissertation focuses on the historical formation process of Hakka ethnic policies of Taiwanese government and exams these policies from a justice-oriented point of view. The dissertation emphasizes the self-shaping features of Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policies under the pressure of political changes, and expects to propose a new way of thinking of Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policy in the future. The author attempts to describe and evaluate Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policies from the viewpoints of contemporary liberal theories of justice. In order to give a clearer picture of these policies and more definite results for their evaluations, the author distinguishes and examines four different dimensions of these policies: the political, the economy, the social, and the cultural dimension. To foster the inspection of the making and implementation of Hakka ethnic policies in Taiwan, the author also proposes two models of justice — the fair-society-as-a-whole model and the individual-rights-of-freedom model. There are three main findings of this dissertation. First, the communitarianism and multiculturalism points of view should be integrated into Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policies so that the latter can be more coherent with contemporary liberalist theories of justice. Second, both the fair-society-as-a-whole and the individual-rights-of-freedom models of contemporary liberalist theories of justice are valid for the assessment of Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policies. Third, even though the concept of social justice has often been referred to in Taiwan Hakka ethnic policies, there is absolutely no clarification of the concept itself nor explanation of the relations between the concept and these polices. This lack of clarification and explanation leads to the serious incomprehensibility of Taiwan’s Hakka ethnic policies to the general public; Hakka population may not even have a clue about what these policies are, let alone support them. In the respect of policy recommendation, there are four main suggestions to be made. First, before a policy is formulated, Taiwanese government should have a thorough understanding of the development of Hakka’s culture and history and the historical interactions between the government and Hakka population. Second, in order to meet the social justice, Hakka ethnic policies should be accompanied with more persuasive arguments and evidences. Third, since Hakka policies has often been tied with promises made in elections in recent years, Taiwanese government should pay more attentions to the cash-out of these promises and open to the operational mechanism of free markets. The establishment of the Hakka Incorporated Administrative is a feasible way. Fourth, Hakka policies should be positioned clearly, be consistent with the development of funding policies, and put more emphasis on the direct subsidies to those regions with vulnerable languages and cultures.