Join us OCTOBER 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM in Thompson Hall room 317 for a very special presentation by Assistant Professor Lev Nachman of National Taiwan University for a discussion of his book Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formations.
This event is HYBRID.
This talk will not be recorded.
Despite maintaining de facto sovereignty, states like Taiwan find themselves unrecognized in today’s international system because another power claims the state as part of their territory. This fraught status, in turn, significantly affects the domestic politics of these places. Contested Taiwan explores Taiwan’s political landscape after the 2014 Sunflower Movement and brings afresh perspective to understanding social movement mobilization and political party formation in “contested states.” In these states, political cleavages are defined not by traditional left-right issues but by questions of identity, territory, and what to do about the country that claims them. Drawing from 150 interviews with Taiwanese activists and politicians, as well as acomparative analysis of Ukraine, Nachman reveals that traditional political science theories fall short when explaining the formation of movement parties in such contexts. Instead, he argues that looming existential threats and strained relationships between activists and established pro-independence parties drive social movements into formal political arenas.
Lev Nachman is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate Institute of National Development at National Taiwan University. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Irvine in 2021, and was previously the Hou Family Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Fairbank Center. His work focuses on political participation in Taiwan and Hong Kong and US-Taiwan relations. His publications span both disciplinary and regional academic journals, including Asian Survey and Political Research Quarterly. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global China Hub and the National Bureau of Asian Research, and regularly comments on contemporary Taiwanese politics. His work has been featured in various media outlets including the New York Times, CNN, and Foreign Affairs.
Sponsored by the UW Taiwan Studies Program and made possible with support from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange.
Accommodation requests related to disability or health condition should be made at least ten days ahead of the event date. Contact taiwanst@uw.edu
Please remember to register if you are interested in joining this event, either in-person or online. The link to the YouTube livestream can be found when you register. You can also access it directly at our YouTube channel titled “University of Washington Taiwan Studies Program.”