ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the historical and structural origins of the hegemonic project, tracing the trajectory of Taiwan's bourgeoisie and its relation to the KMT. Crucial turning points include the land reform in the 1940s and 1950s, the struggle over import substitution and export orientation, and finally the crisis of the developmentalist accumulation regime in the late 1970s. The chapter argues that it is the particular mode of responding to this crisis that set the stage for social struggles until the present day: The economic and political liberalisation in Taiwan not only gave rise to Taiwan's large conglomerates as the dominant capital fraction and allowed them to increasingly elude the political co-optation by the KMT, it also resulted in the attempt by political elites to curb economic interactions across the Taiwan Strait in order to prevent Taiwan's economic dependence on China. As Taiwan's conglomerates became increasingly dependent on China as a site of production and a major market, Taiwan's bourgeoisie began seeking ways to push for a normalisation of economic relations with China.
