19
When Lian Chan and James Soong of the Pan-Blue coalition decided to kiss the ground
in Taiwan to show their love of Taiwan during the 2004 presidential election, their act
was portrayed by the Pan-Green coalition (DPP and the Taiwan Solidarity Union Party)
as a confession of their past wrongs to the Taiwanese people. They were branded as
representatives of “ethnic” mainlanders and the KMT “alien regime” without any
“indigenous” qualification. The self-explanatory “new Taiwanese” catch phrase gives a
self-referential effect, a constant reminder of one’s national affiliation.
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It is “new” with
a distinction to those “old,” or backward, obsolete, and outdated in mindset and person.
While the decision to become a new Taiwanese is a personal, independent choice, the
seemingly diffuse and decentralized individual choice is associated with the welfare of
the collective by the new identity.
Besides election campaigns, the new movement also makes sure that the identity
formation is also embedded in everyday life. As Gillis said it well, “Identities and
memories are not things we think about, but things we think with” (original emphasis).
39
Elites need to offer cues to guide the mass public toward political choices. Therefore, a
variety of channels and mechanisms need to be employed to disperse and frame the new
thinking.
40
Education is a logical choice for political socialization. Precisely through
linguistic reciprocity and intersubjective recognition of particular life contexts, an
individual’s knowledge and rationalization of the lifeworld is integrated into a specific
social system by appropriating symbolic generalities and semantic references. Later,
individuals and group identity are recognized and formed into a virtually “unlimited
communication community” as Habermas anticipated.
41
Whether they are of careful,
Convention