How do Repressors Target Social Structures? Network Analysis of Forced Migration in Colonial Taiwan

• In Event: 50864 - Resistance and Repression

Abstract

Repressors target social structures by punishing leaders, attacking interconnected communities, and dismantling coalitions. A structural network perspective clarifies these strategies by outlining mobilization mechanisms and empirical measures for testing them. However, research has rarely examined how network structures shape repression targets — a gap partially attributable to data requirements. Drawing from theories of social structures and network diffusion, we develop propositions regarding how three network positions—degree, local clustering, and brokerage—relate to repression. We test these propositions using unique data from Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule. Following a large indigenous uprising in 1930, the Japanese forced tribes to relocate. They also extensively documented network relationships between tribes. Using archival analysis, regressions, and simulations, our results indicate that local clustering, but not degree or brokerage, relates to repressive migration. Simulations demonstrate that this repressive strategy effectively diminishes mobilization potential. We discuss implications for research on repression, collective action, and network dynamics.

Authors

• Yuan Hsiao, Yale University

• Yen-Sheng Chiang, Academia Sinica