Democracy on Trial

Writing an ethnography of democracy, the author masterfully offers us thick descriptions and a critical analysis of a multifaceted Taiwanese society. Contrasting with mainstream researches on political cultures which rely heavily on survey data and statistical analysis, Democracy on Trial offers us a fresh alternativean anthropology-inspired and contextually rich study, a classic in the making. Based on first hand materials, he traces a genealogy of pivotal concepts, such as sovereignty, identity and locality, which are at the heart of construction of Taiwans democratic discourse, and investigates how democracy has been experienced as a way of life from the standpoints of various subjects, including social movement participants, urban community members, ethnic activists. The book thus well explores the complex and loaded meaning of democracy.