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Transforming National Identity In The Diaspora: An Identity Formation Approach To Biographies Of Activists Affiliated With The Taiwan Independence Movement In The United States, Weider Shu

Weider Shu

Located within the literature on racial/ethnic identity formation theory, especially the transformational stages developed by William E. Cross in his “Psychology of Nigrescence,” the purpose of this dissertation is to interpret and analyze the biographical information of six selected activists affiliated with the Taiwan Independence Movement (hereafter TIM) in the United States, especially their experiences of identity shifting from Chinese identity to Taiwanese identity.

While contending that the essence of national identity --- especially the elements relevant to the construction of subjective meaning --- has often been neglected by most of the students of nationalism, the basic theoretical concern of …