領土主權爭議引發國家政府之間的衝突，也經常對民間社會產生重大久遠的影響。本文研究「非國家的」民間社會行動者與邊境領土歸屬爭議的關連，問題意識著重領土爭端對這些行動者本身的影響、行動者對於領土爭端的意義建構、以及這些行動者本身因此的變化。本文從懷舊與世代的集體記憶建構之關係，探討關於1970年代保釣運動的記憶建構與知識分子的關連，尤其是與左統保釣人士的關係，以及知識分子在「領土民族主義」中的特殊角色與行動特質。本文指出，1970年代中期至1990年代中期為保釣運動低潮，關於保釣的記憶零落淡薄。2000年左右以來則出現積極建構保釣記憶的各種活動，其基本驅力來自保釣人士的個人生命週期進入老年而高漲的懷舊情感，加上臺灣政治本土化與中國崛起的激發。由於共享中國認同，都對臺灣民族主義、臺獨運動反感，希望中國統一並寄望於中國崛起，也使左、右派保釣人士逐漸言和而趨同。本文結論指出，「保釣世代」的懷舊，顯示知識分子擅長召喚過去、建構集體記憶，因而成為傳承領土民族主義的主要行動者，以及領土爭端中不易妥協的民間社會力量。然而解決釣魚台領土爭端、維持東海和平、追求東亞各國共生，有賴超越民族主義與國族認同建構的「神聖領土」觀念。

Territorial dispute between countries often has significant and lasting impact on civil society and different civil society actors usually have different relationship with territorial dispute. This article first gives a brief overview of the ＂Defending the Diaoyutai Islands Movement＂ (Baodiao) in Taiwan and America. The territorial dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands (Senkakus Islands) in the East China Sea between Taiwan, Japan, and China emerged in the late 1960s. Over the last four decades, non-state actors devoting themselves to Baodiao included intellectuals, local politicians, fishermen, and so on, whose ideologies, interests, and practical approaches to defending the Diaoyutais are not necessarily the same. Among them, the intellectual-activists who pioneered Baodiao either in America or Taiwan during 1971, especially the ＂leftist-unificationist＂ members (Zuotong) who have strongly advocated Taiwan's unification with China, have been most vocal in calling for the defense of the ＂Chinese＂ territory of the Diaoyutais since the turn of the new millennium in the context of Taiwan's democratization and ＂Taiwanization＂ in politics and culture. This article then explains why there has been an unexpected Baodiao memory boom created mainly by the leftist-unificationists in the recent two decades, highlighting their high cultural capital compared with that of local politicians and fishermen, nostalgic tendency typical of their late adult stage of life, the significant development of Taiwanese nationalism, and the rising of China as a global power. The article further points out that many highly antagonistic leftist and rightist members of Baodiao intellectual-activists have since the mid-1990s reached rapprochement because of their shared Chinese identity, opposition against Taiwanese nationalism, and support for the rising China, thus echoing China's rising popular nationalism. The article concludes that the high capability of these intellectual-activists in constructing collective memory, as demonstrated in their nostalgia for the Baodiao past, shows that they have been one of most unyielding civil society actors demanding to defend the Diaoyutais, and one of the most important agents of territorial nationalism, which arguably must be overcome in order to solve the territorial dispute over the Diaoyutais, maintain stability in the East China Sea, and achieve peaceful coexistence among Taiwan, China, and Japan.