中研院社會所【週五論壇】究竟什麼是「現狀」？— 一個從台灣出發的新典範(9/11)
2026-08-26
（本場次為中文演講）
究竟什麼是「現狀」？——一個從台灣出發的新典範
What on Earth Is the "Status Quo"? Toward a New Paradigm from Taiwan
主講人：汪宏倫（中央研究院社會學研究所研究員兼副所長）
主持人：潘欣欣（中央研究院社會學研究所副研究員）
時間：2026-09-11 14:30~ 16:30
地點：中央研究院社會學研究所802會議室（人文館南棟8樓）
報名連結：https://forms.gle/KRphNAqd3bwzivwp6 (另開視窗)
聯絡人：陳怡雯，carol0110@as.edu.tw
演講簡介：
Recent polls have consistently shown that a majority of people in Taiwan prefer to maintain the “status quo” when asked about the future of cross-Strait relations. Yet the meaning of the status quo itself remains surprisingly underexamined. It is often treated as a self-evident middle position between unification and independence, or a pragmatic formula for stability. But what, exactly, is being maintained, and what on earth does the “status quo” mean? A sovereign state, an unresolved civil war, a democratic polity without normal international recognition, or a fragile condition sustained by deterrence, diplomacy, and imagination?
This talk argues that Taiwan’s status quo should not be understood merely as stagnation or avoidance of choice. Rather, it is a complex political condition that exposes the limits of conventional assumptions about sovereignty, national identity, and international order. Drawing on recent post-classical approaches in social theory and IR, the talk suggests that Taiwan’s status quo may be better understood as a kind of “Schrödinger’s state”—namely, a “superposition state” contingent on different conditions of observation.
Reframing the status quo in this way opens new research questions and political possibilities. Internally, it invites Taiwan to move beyond exhausted binaries such as blue vs. green, unification vs. independence, and ROC vs Taiwan, while sustaining a democratic community capable of containing multiple identities without collapsing into mutual hostility. Externally, it challenges Beijing, Washington, regional actors, and the international community to reconsider whether existing frameworks adequately capture and preserve Taiwan’s open-ended reality. In other words, the status quo may not be a problem to be overcome, but a starting point for imagining a new paradigm for academic research and international society.
講者簡介：
汪宏倫，中央研究院社會學研究所研究員兼副所長，主要研究興趣在文化社會學、歷史社會學、社會理論等，近年研究涉及台、日、中、韓等地之民族主義、歷史記憶及所謂「轉型正義」等議題，探討東亞現代性中戰爭、情感與價值觀之關聯。曾主編《戰爭與社會》，合編《帝國邊緣：台灣現代性的考察》、《族群、民族與現代國家》
中央研究院社會學研究所 究竟什麼是「現狀」？——一個從台灣出發的新典範
究竟什麼是「現狀」？——一個從台灣出發的新典範
What on Earth Is the "Status Quo"? Toward a New Paradigm from Taiwan
主講人：汪宏倫（中央研究院社會學研究所研究員兼副所長）
主持人：潘欣欣（中央研究院社會學研究所副研究員）
時間：2026-09-11 14:30~ 16:30
地點：中央研究院社會學研究所802會議室（人文館南棟8樓）
報名連結：https://forms.gle/KRphNAqd3bwzivwp6 (另開視窗)
聯絡人：陳怡雯，carol0110@as.edu.tw
演講簡介：
Recent polls have consistently shown that a majority of people in Taiwan prefer to maintain the “status quo” when asked about the future of cross-Strait relations. Yet the meaning of the status quo itself remains surprisingly underexamined. It is often treated as a self-evident middle position between unification and independence, or a pragmatic formula for stability. But what, exactly, is being maintained, and what on earth does the “status quo” mean? A sovereign state, an unresolved civil war, a democratic polity without normal international recognition, or a fragile condition sustained by deterrence, diplomacy, and imagination?
This talk argues that Taiwan’s status quo should not be understood merely as stagnation or avoidance of choice. Rather, it is a complex political condition that exposes the limits of conventional assumptions about sovereignty, national identity, and international order. Drawing on recent post-classical approaches in social theory and IR, the talk suggests that Taiwan’s status quo may be better understood as a kind of “Schrödinger’s state”—namely, a “superposition state” contingent on different conditions of observation.
Reframing the status quo in this way opens new research questions and political possibilities. Internally, it invites Taiwan to move beyond exhausted binaries such as blue vs. green, unification vs. independence, and ROC vs Taiwan, while sustaining a democratic community capable of containing multiple identities without collapsing into mutual hostility. Externally, it challenges Beijing, Washington, regional actors, and the international community to reconsider whether existing frameworks adequately capture and preserve Taiwan’s open-ended reality. In other words, the status quo may not be a problem to be overcome, but a starting point for imagining a new paradigm for academic research and international society.
講者簡介：
汪宏倫，中央研究院社會學研究所研究員兼副所長，主要研究興趣在文化社會學、歷史社會學、社會理論等，近年研究涉及台、日、中、韓等地之民族主義、歷史記憶及所謂「轉型正義」等議題，探討東亞現代性中戰爭、情感與價值觀之關聯。曾主編《戰爭與社會》，合編《帝國邊緣：台灣現代性的考察》、《族群、民族與現代國家》
中央研究院社會學研究所 究竟什麼是「現狀」？——一個從台灣出發的新典範
