THE PACIFIC REVIEW https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2020.1784985 Constructing rights in Taiwan: the feminist factor, democratization, and the quest for global citizenship Alison Brysk Department of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA ABSTRACT In an era of worldwide rights regression, beleaguered Taiwan remains Asia’s most democratic, gender equitable, and liberal internationalist nation. What accounts for this seemingly exceptional record—and how does the feminist factor contribute to the construction of rights? Bridging constructivist and feminist scholarship, this essay argues that gender equity is a force multiplier for democratization as it empowers civil society and fosters legitimacy at home and abroad. In a three-level game, states at the margin of the inter- national system may benefit from rights reform that expands the national interest and delivers material and reputational rewards. The case of Taiwan illustrates the dynamics of the double transition to liberal democracy and a liberal gender regime and its projection to world politics. The rewards of rights for Taiwan suggest a wider range of options even in small states facing regional challenges—and greater attention to the feminist factor in world politics. KEYWORDS human rights; Taiwan; gender; democratization; transnationalism In an era of worldwide rights regression, Taiwan remains Asia’s most demo- cratic, gender equitable, and liberal internationalist nation. Taiwan ranks 9th in the world in gender equality—higher than China, Korea, Singapore, or Japan. The election of a woman President in 2016, renewed in 2020, caps a rising tide of women’s political empowerment with 42% Parliamentary rep- resentation, legislative reforms in all areas of equity and security, and an active women’s movement (Department of Gender Equality 2020; Law, 2020) What accounts for this seemingly exceptional record—and how does the feminist factor contribute to the construction of human rights? Bridging constructivist and feminist scholarship, this essay argues that Taiwan’s CONTACT Alison Brysk [email protected] Department of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA. ß 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2 A. BRYSK empowered women’s movement and rapid progress on women’s rights has deepened democracy and enhanced international projection beyond the level of its regional peers to the global standard of social democratic mid- dle powers. In Taiwan, a double transition to liberal democracy and a liberal gender regime have been mutually reinforcing, empowering civil society, fostering legitimacy at home and abroad, and underpinning a strategy of compensatory transnationalism to overcome international isolation—with global implications. This essay will integrate constructivist with feminist analysis, chronicle the political process of the three-level game of rights construction in Taiwan, and show how Taiwan has been rewarded for its dual liberalization of political and gender regimes. The rewards of rights for Taiwan suggest a broader range of options for emerging democracies in Asia and beyond. Theory and literature: constructing rights The foundational insight of constructivism is that national interests and world order are constructed in relation to norms, ideas, and identities— including human rights. (Weldes, 1996) ‘Rights make sense’ when rights build the state’s identity and normative niche in international society. (Brysk, 2007) Constructivist scholarship also suggests the political process of constructing rights is a three-level game among state, society, and world order–and a channel for networks of transnational non-state actors. (Risse, 1995) On the domestic level, democratization and rights reform may be a long-term strategy for pursuing the national interest by building a product- ive, healthy and well-educated society with high legitimacy (Katzenstein, 1996; Przeworski, Alvarez, Alvarez, Cheibub, & Limongi, 2000). Globally, states at the margin of the international system may benefit from rights reform that expands the national interest and delivers material and reputa- tional rewards—from ‘soft power’ to normative recognition. (Brysk, 2009; Kavalski, 2013; Nye, 1990) To understand when and how this happens, system-level constructivism must be supplemented with state-level feminist analysis. While feminist international relations elucidates global influences on state identities and women’s rights outcomes (Tickner, 2001), at the second level of domestic politics, the gender biased corporate identity of the state also plays a role in mediating between international norms and society. (Savery, 2007) This gendered aspect of the state’s identity and institutions may be understood in terms of a ‘gender regime’ of relations of reproduction that co-exists with the political economy and political regime. Feminist analysis maps clusters of gender regime types with different operational logics, dynamics of change, and relations with the international system; such as patrimonial, THE PACIFIC REVIEW 3 liberal, socialist—with corresponding sub-types, hybrids, and transitional types. The nature and evolution of a society’s gender regime will help determine women’s rights, security, and status in a given society—but the gender regime will also help to shape the political economy and political regimes. (Moghadam, 2013) In particular, the construction of political rights and democratic regime change is facilitated by the transition from a ‘semi- liberal’ gender regime type typically associated with emerging economies to a fully modernized liberal gender regime articulated with the liberal international order. (Brysk, 2018) Like the pursuit of a rights-based liberal state identity, the transition to a liberal gender regime pays dividends for democracy, development, and glo- bal influence alike. The development patterns that enable women’s empowerment produce more and better distributed economic growth. (Lawson-Remmer, 2012) The movement from patriarchal structures of social organization to a more open society and accessible public sphere is associ- ated with a larger middle class, more state capacity, and more pressures for government accountability (Hudson, Lee Bowen, & Lynne Nielsen, 2020). Because of these sociological patterns, more gender equitable countries are generally more democratic, peaceful, and outward-looking. (Hudson, Ballif- Spanvill, Caprioli, & Emmett, 2012; Piccone, 2017) Improving women’s rights may also provide a strategic advantage for societies in transition that enhances participation in liberal international regimes and liberal demo- cratic alliances. (Towns, 2010) At the global level, Taiwan has compensated for international isolation by liberal branding that brings regional distinction and national solidarity in the face of external threat. Taiwan has established a middle-power demo- cratic niche and transnational mode of diplomacy intertwined with gender equity that have amplified its influence to ‘punch above its weight’-like Costa Rica, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries, (Brysk, 2009; Krumbein, 2019). Scholars of Taiwan’s human rights reform point to the importance of transcending international weakness with soft power strength ( Shipper, 2012; Rowen & Rowen, 2017. As Delisle puts it, in the international relations game Taiwan holds a poor hand of military clubs and economic diamonds, so “Taiwan’s best option, thus, has been to play hearts—to emphasize its high standing on “values” issues, including inter- national human rights” (deLisle, 2019) . Early adoption of women’s rights also influenced external projection of soft power, in middle powers such as Canada, Costa Rica, and the Nordic states. Worldwide, gender equity is associated with more multilateralism, humanitarianism, and stronger inter- national rights promotion policies (Brysk & Mehta, 2014). The existential insecurity of Taiwan’s contested status goes beyond the typical challenge of middle-power democratic projection, perhaps 4 A. BRYSK paralleled only by South Korea within the region. This presents a limiting case of constrained sovereignty as ‘what states make of it’ (paraphrasing Wendt, 1992)—but the construction of rights in Taiwan ultimately passes this demanding test.1 Although Taiwan’s security dilemma initially helped legitimate decades of authoritarianism-as we shall see, the dual dynamic of regime and gender liberalization helped Taiwan to overcome its isolation, maintain an unofficial liberal alliance with the United States, and consoli- date national identity within a generation. This interaction between the double liberal transition of political regime and gender regime helps to delineate what sets Taiwan apart from the region–and reinforces the feasibility of feminism in East Asia. Taiwan mani- fests the necessary conditions of development path, democratization, and civil society mobilization associated with successful human rights reform (Landman, 2013; Risse, Ropp, & Sikkink, 1999)—with slightly better conditions at critical junctures than its liberal democratic neighbors Japan and Korea (Bae, 2011). We might say that the X factor that pushes Taiwan to a higher level is the XX factor—women’s empowerment. By contrast, the introduction of liberal democracy in Japan without significant transformation of gender equity is less sustainable and yields less liberal internationalism. Similarly, some progress on gender in Korea has enhanced civil society but democratic accountability and global