ABSTRACT
In the opening years of the twenty-first century, the intensity of social movements led by the middle class in Taiwan appeared to be weak. Beginning with the democratic opening in the mid-1980s, urban, highly educated middle class professionals assumed a position in the vanguard of a number of reform projects (Hsiao and Koo 1997). The political opposition that rebounded after the crushing defeat of the Formosa Incident in 1979 was led for the most part by a group of lawyers, journalists and writers. Thanks to their participation, issues such as consumer protection, human rights, gender equity, environmental protection and education reform gained both momentum and social visibility. A confident middle class, not shy about proclaiming its rights, and those of the lower class – whether out of altruism or ideological commitment – frequently took part in the social protests of under-privileged members: Presbyterian church workers in the aboriginal movement, intellectuals in the labour movement, and college student activists, both on and off campus, testify to the breadth of middle class social commitments at this time.
