Contested Taiwan sovereignty, social movements, and party formation

In the 2025 Centre of Taiwan Studies Summer School, we are excited to feature Dr Lev Nachman’s book talk, which offers a timely analysis of how identity, territory, and external threats shape party politics and movement mobilisation in Taiwan.

Despite maintaining de facto sovereignty, states like Taiwan find themselves unrecognized in today’s international system because another power claims the state as part of their territory. This fraught status, in turn, significantly affects the domestic politics of these places. 

Contested Taiwan explores Taiwan’s political landscape after the 2014 Sunflower Movement and brings a fresh perspective to understanding social movement mobilization and political party formation in “contested states.” In these states, political cleavages are defined not by traditional left-right issues but by questions of identity, territory, and what to do about the country that claims them. 

Drawing from 150 interviews with Taiwanese activists and politicians, as well as a comparative analysis of Ukraine, I reveal that traditional political science theories fall short when explaining the formation of movement parties in such contexts. Instead, I argue that looming existential threats and strained relationships between activists and established pro-independence parties drive social movements into formal political arenas.

Image credit: Thomas Tucker via Unsplash