Over the past two decades, I have chosen as the main object of my research the intersection point between two subjects often considered marginal in the social sciences in general, and in anthropology in particular: Taiwan and sports. It wasn’t mean of staying on the periphery of my discipline or of academic debates, but on the contrary of studying what was not always studied and of bringing back my questions, inspired by classical anthropology, at the core of the issues of contemporary anthropology. Furthermore, my approach has always taken into account the historical and temporal dimensions that tend to define the representations and issues of sport in the Taiwanese context.
With this intervention, I would like to show how the past of sport in Taiwan is a relevant object for understanding, from an anthropological point of view, the way in which the Taiwanese envision their future and, doing so, how the anthropology of sports constitutes, for the future, a relevant field for working on the uncertainties of a geopolitical space in tension.
Indeed, the recent news has highlighted the importance of Taiwan in international relations and the equilibrium of the contemporary world. Many questions have thus emerged, in particular on the nationalisms that face each other across the Taiwan Strait. I will show here how the anthropology of sports can shed light on these questions with nuances and help to better understand complex issues, both in the eyes of scholars and the public opinion.
