本文探討臺灣「眷村」的歷史形成與社會差異，嘗試對於「眷村」進行一個再概念化的工作，從一個較為寬廣的歷史脈絡來認識「眷村」的出現、類型與異同，除了介紹列管眷村的起源與發展，也將兼顧自力眷村的觀察與討論。我們不應將列管眷村等同全體來臺軍人與眷屬的居住經驗，而是應該探究，除了列管眷村之外，是否還有其他以大陸來臺軍人為主的居住型態，了解他們的居住經驗將有助於拼湊國府遷臺之後各級軍人與眷屬的群聚形貌，得到一個較為完整的歷史圖像與社會人口特性的理解。本文將「眷村」定義為以第一代大陸來臺軍人及其眷屬為主的群居聚落，區分為列管眷村與自力眷村兩種類型，提出相關資料說明為何此一分析上的區分有其必要性。就資料整理而言，經由比對1951-1991年間列管眷村與外省（市）籍人口的關係，本文發現，列管眷村在吸納大陸來臺軍人及其眷屬的居住需求上有其侷限性，多數外省（市）籍人口並沒有住進列管眷村，突顯了探究其他以外省（市）籍人口或大陸來臺軍人及其眷屬為主之人口群聚現象的必要性。沒有住進列管眷村的外省（市）籍人口並不是平均散居各地，而是可能沿著既有的列管眷村、營區或是都市空地而出現某種群聚現象，本文稱之為自力眷村。

This paper explores the historical formation and social differences of Chuan-Tsuan in Taiwan in order to re-shape our understanding of its emergence and diversity. Attention is given to both registered and selfsupported military communes. The author claims that it is analytically necessary to distinguish between registered and self-supported military communes in order to achieve a solid understanding of the historical links and socio-demographic characteristics between the two types. Such an effort challenges a binary ethnic stereotype based on cultural homogeneity. It is claimed that the Chuan-Tsuan definition used by the Taiwan Ministry of Defense not only ignores the diversity of Chuan-Tsuan in this country, but also reifies the immigration and settlement experiences of those who moved to Taiwan in or just before 1949.