Ming-cheng Lo on the 2012 Taiwan Election: Identities

Professor Ming-cheng Lo began her talk by rebutting the idea that the reelection of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan's president suggests that Taiwan voters are in favor of unification with the mainland. Her focus, however, is how different this campaign was from its predecessors. Neither party sought to win votes by appealling to strong national or ethnic identities. Instead, the campaign focused on more pragmatic concerns. Lo discussed the steady progress Taiwan's made towards developing civic nationalism. Civil society, however, remains weak in Taiwan. She argues that on cross-strait policy, consensus needs to be built from the bottom-up rather than imposed from political leaders down.

Ming-cheng Lo is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California Davis. Her research mainly focuses on the cultural processes of political and medical institutions. Additionally, Lo specializes in civil societies, political cultures, health and illness experiences, cultural sociology, and comparative historical sociology.

This presentation was given on January 20, 2012 at USC. Please click on the play button below to watch the presentation..
 

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