ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the hegemonic role of the mainlander-dominated party-state over Taiwan's civil society for the first three decades of its rule there. It demonstrates how the emergence of anti-hegemonic challenges in the form of establishing new political parties, social movements and a quest for identity are setting the agenda for the 1990's. The emergence of a bourgeoisie in Taiwan meant the rise of an alternative route to upward mobility and the formation of a new elite group. Taiwan offers a singular laboratory to examine the rise of social movements within civil society. Investors in Taiwan's roller coaster stock market marched on Kuomintang headquarters during the 1989 election campaign to protest the government's efforts to introduce a tax on share transactions. A final aspect of the emergence and politicization of civil society in Taiwan is the quest for the identity.
