39
“We vs. They”: Identity, Ethnicity, and Politics
Identity offers a common identification marking of who I am as an individual and
who we are as a community. Any identification marking, such as the singing of national
anthems, transmits an important message to allow an individual to have a more secure
sense of self respect, dignity and confidence in relation to others, and social belonging.
As Anderson observed, when singing in unison, even the banal words and mediocre tunes
of national anthems still instigate a sense of oneness and create a common experience of
association with people utterly unknown to each other.
87
Meanwhile, the rise of an
institutional bond offers a convenient tool for political mobilization, particularly in
election campaigning. Group identity and group interests tend to reinforce each other in
a democratic society.
88
In Taiwan’s case, the demand for a redistribution of resources and authority to “right
the wrongs” of the past, mixed with ethnocentric beliefs, easily allows mass followers to
have a sharp contrast between us and them. Whatever they have done in the past is
usually condemned in big brush strokes, and whatever we have advocated carries virtuous
qualities. Once these beliefs are internalized to become second nature and hardened over
time, it becomes easy to distinguish friends and foes in mass mobilization.
89
The singular
injection of ethnicity into politics not only invites puzzles and complexity in individual
identity but also creates an additional dimension in political debates and policy
evaluation.
90
Convention