Cooking up Democracy

More than twelve years ago now, Monika Treut shot a film in Taiwan. Now she has returned to the dramatically changed country. While democracy is endangered across the globe, the east Asian land has gone in a different direction. After decades under authoritarian rule, democratization and the digital wave took hold – and have since gone hand in hand. At the same time, Taiwanese society has become open to progressive ideas, nonconformist lifestyles, and a non-binary concept of gender. Treut delves into a lively, activist, and queer cultural milieu. She meets with the country’s former minister of digital affairs, talks with feminist thinkers, and visits an alternative tea house. But this open society is under threat, not only from its neighbour China, but also from propaganda and disinformation in digital spaces. Resilience and the ability to adapt are as necessary as a pluralistic vision of democracy as a shared and dynamic practice.