Spatial Power Structure and the Development of Sai-Jia Hand Gliding Field

• Main Authors: Yi-Jung Chen, 陳怡蓉
• Other Authors: Shew-Jiuan B. Su
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/29033987098913884015

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 地理學系 === 95 === The thesis discusses the spatial conflicts and the problem of the development of the Sai-Jia Hand Gliding Park in Pingtung. It is argued all kinds of conflicts come from asymmetric power relation circuits. Asymmetric power relations speed up the working of the power circuits, as well as reproduce new power and social relations. Since the physical environment for gliding at Sai-Jia was excellent, people tried to fly in the Sai-Jia field as early as 1978. In 1982, Pingtung county government initiated tourism for the area and made Sai-Jia the first Hand Gliding Park in Taiwan. Due to administrative overlap, ethnic conflicts, and resource competition conflicts, the development of Sai-Jia Hand Gliding Park became a struggling process. In this thesis, I, using interviews and media reports, analyzed the agents and their agency in Sai-Jia field to reconstruct the spatial power structure of the field and to discuss changes in social politics, economies and ethnic values. The administrative overlap of the management of the Sai-Jia field revealed the problematic overlapping of agency of the Pingtung county government, the township government, the village government, and even the national aborigine regulations. As to the ethnic conflicts in Sai-Jia gliding field, it uncovered the value difference among the Han and the Taiwanese aboriginal peoples. The ethnic relation was complicated by the heterogeneous nature of each ethnic group. The perception difference among pilots and residents also contributed to the ethnic issues. The resource competition among the Han and the aboriginal was an economic as well as political issue. The hand gliding field land owners’ economic motive was not the sole decision-maker of how the land was used. The hand gliding association’s and the township officials’ political conscious was also significant in determining resource allocation. Giddens’ structuration theory emphasizes the interplay of structure and agents, but the attributes of agents are rarely discussed. The study revealed the significance of the attributes of agents, in particular the Han and the aboriginal, as well as the gliding pilots and local residents. Heterogeneity exists even within the same ethnic group and within the same interest group.