v ..-‘r070‘ -..--..._. 0.".I. f. ..-.-q-l..,- .:.,-.- V .7... - G W mm unwom: rm mm ~ M W the Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY RITA .I. GALLIN 1973 w—vfi ......... IIIIIII II\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\“III .., L 3 1293 10372.3049 E. SIREN“; 3y HUM: & saw 7 800K smum mc, LIBRARY muozns """1’ Inc-mu ABSTRACT HIGRANT NETHORKS: TAIPEI, TAIWAN By Rita J. Gallin This study describes the social behavior and interaction among and between two groups of migrants from the same village who do not form a cohesive urban community, but who are bound by certain formal and informal ties. An economic and social gulf separates laborer and merchant migrants and their networks, to a large extent, have different charac- teristics. The laborers' most intense relationships are with other laborers whose resources are equally as limited as their own, and their ability to maneuver sociopolitically is minimal. The merchants, through participation in associational groupings, make contacts with pecple of higher standing within the city which they manipulate and translate into economic and sociOpolitical advantages. The two groups maintain rela- tionships with each other in order to fulfill their individualistic interests. These relationships, however, tend to conform to a patron- client model, rather than to alliances of peOple who are equals. In large part, the conditions which have generated these net- works are: The migrants' economic activities; their continuing ties with the home village; and their lack or possession of alternative sources of cohesion. mom malts: TAIPEI, TAIWAN By Rita J. Gallin A.THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology 1973 ‘ \ 1‘ 51 ‘ L? V (5!) Copyright by RITA JANE GALLIN 1973 ' ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the members of my graduate committee, Professors Bo Anderson (Chairman), Herbert H. Karp, and Richard Hill for their stimulation and guidance in the writing of this thesis. My appreciation is deepest to my husband, Bernard, for his contributions -- practical, intellectual, and emotional -— during every phase of my graduate training and this thesis. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . e . INTRODUCTION. 0 . . . e . e . . 0 BACKGROUND: THE VILLAGE AND CITY LABOIERS . . . . . . e o . . . . MERCHANTS . . e . s . e . s . e . LABORERS AND MERCHANTS . . . . . DISCUSSION . s , s e . e . . e 0 LIST OF REFERENCES . . . . . . s 111 Page ii 10 20 27 32 45 INTRODUCTION Researchers increasingly are using the concept of social network to analyze social relationships and behavior in a wide variety of situa- tions (Mitchell 1969:6-7). The concept is particularly useful where rela- tionships are not carried on within a bounded community or institutional framework, since it allows the analyst to examine the interaction among and between peOple in different contexts. In this paper, I will use the concept to examine the social interaction and behavior of migrants who live and work in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. "The Chinese tradition of authoritarian rule . . . [is] still dominant" in.Taiwan (Jacoby 1966:111); the island is ruled by a cen- tralized government elite which sought refuge there under Chiang Kai- shek's leadership in 1949. Since its arrival, this government has attempted to make its only territorial base an economic model and with the help of American aid, the island's economy has steadily improved and foreign trade expanded. however, the economy has a "seamier sidez" "underemployment, low‘wages combined with rising consumer prices, taxes that fall heaviest on the poor, and the burden of a bloated civilian and military bureaucracy" (Mendel 1970:66). In addition, despite a successful land reform program, the pressure of a growing papulation on a relatively stable land base has resulted in rural underemployment, landlessness, or family farms too small to support its members. As a result, the migrants with whom I will deal in this paper 2 moved to Taipei to seek employment. They came from a small agricultural community in which residential concentration, formal organization and kin and village-based socioreligious and political activities drew them together and fostered reciprocal relations that tended to blur social and economic distinctions. In the city, the structure of a formal organ- ization which could perform these functions is lacking, and the migrants have formed into two main groups, a large lower class and a small, upwardly mobile class, which have fewer contacts between them than within them. My concern then is to see what effect social and economic differ- entiations have had on the migrants' networks; in what ways their rela- tionships are organized and maintained; what meaning these relationships have for the people involved in them; and what conditions affect the characteristics of their networks. The data on which this paper is based were collected during three separate field trips to Taiwan. The first trip, during 1957-1958, was devoted to a study of Rain Being, a rural agricultural village, and the second and third, during 1965-1966 and 1969-1970, to a study of mi- grants to Taipei from Hsin Being. Some of the data were collected through a survey questionnaire administered to all Hsin Being migrant units in Taipei, but most were gathered through the methods of participant-Obser- vation and intensive interviewing. BACKGROUND: THE VILLAGE AND CITY Hsin Being village is located in Chang-hue county on the west— central coastal plain of Taiwan, approximately 130 miles from Taipei. In 1958 the village had a registered population of 609 people living in in 99 households, and in 1966, a registered papulation of 612 peOple living in 112 households; this minimal growth was the result of migra- tion to cities, particularly Taipei. In fact, although over 600 peOple were registered in the village, only 506 people lived there. Within the village, the peOple are organized into several £33 (lineage) and a number of other very small family groupings which consist of several recently divided families or family units unrelated to any others in the village. Member families within each £22_share a demon- strated common ancestor in the village itself, and each Egg is patri- lineal and virilocal. Although there are twelve surnames in the village, four -- Huang, Shih, K'ang, and Shen -- make up 82 per cent of the village pOpulation and 81 per cent of the village households. People bearing the same surname do not, however, necessarily belong to the same Egg, and there are several kinship organizations of Huang or Shih, and so on in the village. Regardless of the number of member families, however, 533, groups live in separate compounds or in several houses in close proximity within the village. The relationships among peOple in this system of patrilineal kinship are among the most important for the villagers. Although the 1. 522 groups are not elaborate in size and organization, they do have the ultimate goal of benefiting their members through their sociOpolitical influence, and they perform several activities that provide for group solidarity, identification, and loyalty. I For example, the £22 functions as a ceremonial group drawing its members together for ancestral worship and for the rituals at marriage or death. Economically, however, only one Egg_group in the village has a real basis for organization, some corporate landholdings which are rented to its poorest member families. The income derived from this land is small and is used to maintain the ancestral worship room in the main 523 house. Perhaps, though, the most important function of the several 222 is in their capacity as sociOpolitical groups. ‘Within the village the several more powerful 523 form coalitions in an attempt to harmonize the activities and relationships of the village pOpulation. Influential members mediate intragggg, intergtgg, and general village or inter- village conflict. In addition, the coalitions of 533 control the inter- nal politics of the village; elected offices tend to be held by members of the larger £33. A £§u_may work alone in the village or may cOOperate with other 532, whichever arrangement is more advantageous. That Egg are considered to wield influence can be seen by the fact that unrelated families who may bear the same surname as an influential £22, but not share a common ancestor with it, try to identify themselves with the group in order to achieve some of the sociOpolitical benefits and security which accrue to its members. As individual units, unrelated families and individual member families within the tsu do not wield power within the village. But the 5 individual family unit still stands as a source of security and is an important basis for relationships. The family is an economic unit and while sixty-five families within Hsin Hsing are nuclear, five joint and twenty-nine stem families also reside in the village.1 The growth of a nuclear family into a stem family occurs when a son marries, and the growth may continue into the joint form as other sons marry. But, almost inevitably, division occurs and each unit starts anew as a nuclear unit. Even among these nuclear units, however, there is a great deal of inter- action, mutual aid, and cooperation in daily tasks. The relationships of villagers, however, are not limited only to those of patrilineal kinship. Recent events in Taiwan have, to a degree, begun to undermine the importance of kinship. For example, the Land Reform Program of 1949-1953 exprOpristed some of the corporate and private landholdings of the lineages and the few local landlords; as a result, the position of the traditional landlord leaders in both kinship and village organizations was weakened. At the same time, the Land Consolidation Program (begun in the early 1960's) eliminated a former basis for agricultural cOOperation among kinsmen; this program redistri- buted the small and disperse landholdings of the farmers and provided each with blocks of land whose new locations draw them into different 1A joint family usually is composed of at least three genera- tions and includes ". . . parents, their unmarried children, their married sons (more than one), . . . sons' wives and children" and perhaps other relatives (Lang 1946314). Sometimes it may include only one of the older parents and the married sons and their families and other times the older brother may preside ". . . over his [unmarried'sisters], married and un- married brothers, with his wives and his children and their children . . ." (Lang 1946:14). A stem family lies between a joint and nuclear family and ". . . consists of the parents, their unmarried children, and one married son with wife and children. The family of this type, too, can be broken, e.g., when one of the parents is alive or the son has no children" (Lang 1946:14-15). 6 cooperative relationships that cross kin and village lines. The deve10pment of political factions within the area that tend to draw members across kin and village lines also is contributing to the diminu- tion of the importance of these traditional relationships. And, finally, the more frequent intercession of government agencies and organizations in times of conflict has tended to undermine the importance of the £23 groUp as a mediative power. Perhaps for these reasons, most villagers, including even those who are members of the larger kinship organizations, tend to look beyond these traditional groupings and identifications. But this diver- sification is not totally new. Through an exogamous system of marriage, villagers always have extended their social networks to include matri- lateral and affinal relatives whom they call ghLiglghli; and since marriage has been a contractual matter determined by families rather than individuals, a family has been able to enhance its socioeconomic secur- ity and political position in this way. Villagers also, always have had selective and voluntary rela- tionships. For example, young men frequently organize fictive kinship groupings (sworn brotherhoods) for social purposes and to serve as poten- tial sources of aid. The members of these groups refer to each other as hygg;gigh’(a person with whom one has exchanged records) and use kinship terminology to address each other, i.e., brother (and sometimes, even each others relatives). The groups are ritually started and are supposed to last the lifetimes of the participants. Very often, in the village, however, the men within such groups also are kinsmen, although effort is made to include people with whom no prior relationship exists. In addition, villagers often become close friends through joint 7 participation in cOOperative labor groups, Father-Mother Associations (burial societies), village socioreligious activities, and so on. Friend- ships developed in school, when they extend into adulthood, also function as relatively important relationships. And the many associations that exist in the rural area draw unrelated families together and provide Opportunities to develOp friendships and relationships that cross kinship, village and class lines. All of these relationships give the villagers an additional source of security and supplement that which is derived from kin. In the city, life is somewhat different for the village migrants. Most went there as a result of the pressures of a growing pepulation on a stable agricultural land base.2 Hsin using villagers first began mi- grating to the capital city of Taipei in the 1940's and by 1965-1966, 261 people (including spouses and children) resided there. Two hundred twenty of these migrants composed thirty-six family units (two joint, five stem, and twenty-nine nuclear); the remaining forty-one migrants were individuals whose families resided in Hsin Hsing. Usually the male head of the household first comes to the city and at the outset moves back and forth between the city and village to visit family, care for land, and/or to Observe festivals or rituals. The majority of the men, however, soon become settled in a job in the city and bring their families to live with them. Over time, family 2It is not only the "push" factor that functions in the decision- making process to migrate. Villagers sometimes migrate because they are dissatisfied with village life; in the city they hOpe to find relief from the constraints of kinship or village. Others leave because they wish to diversify their families' economic base or supplement the income they receive from their land. Still others leave because their standard of living has not kept pace with their rising expectations. 8 visits to the village become less frequent since the trip home is expen- sive and would necessitate the loss of essential income from work for most men. In addition, the work of most migrants does not permit them to come and go as they please. This work, for the majority of the migrants (65 per cent), is in jobs connected with the vegetable section of the wholesale Central Market of Taipei. Most, arriving in Taipei with little education and no capital, work in service type jobs such as cart-drivers, delivering pro- duce in and out of the market. The heavy concentration of Rain Being migrants in this type jOb can be attributed to their arriving in Taipei (from 1946 through the early 1950's) at a time when the Central Market Operation was organizing and expanding and to the aid earlier arrivals gave to those who came later to find jobs. Five migrants Operate wholesale vegetable businesses in the market. All of these men also began work in the city as cart-drivers: they, however, gave up these jobs to become clerks at lower wages for established merchants in the Central Market. Gradually, they learned the business and managed -- through perseverance and accumulated savings -- to establish their own businesses inside the market. Of all the migrants, these men are the most successful financially. These merchants and the men who work as cart-drivers in the mar- ket see each other regularly during their working hours: usually from 190 a.m. when the vegetables begin to come into the market until 10:00 am. when the business day is over and everything is cleaned up. The migrants' contact with each other does not stop with the end of the work day, however. Most men do not go home immediately after work; some cart- drivers remain in the market and do extra work for merchants while most 9 relax by talking, joking, gambling, and sometimes drinking together. They finally leave the market for home and sleep sometime after noon. , Home, for the majority of the migrants, is either in the vicin- ity of the Central Market in Ch'eng Chung District, or in another nearby area known as Wan Hus in the Shuang Yuan District. Both districts, two of the oldest areas of Taipei city, are inhabited predominantly by Taiwanese and house many rural to urban migrants. Most Hsin Being mi- grants live in residential concentrations, and in addition, in concen- trations closely correlated with kinship relationship. Although in most cases their dwellings are not contiguous, they usually are within visiting distance. The longer distances between their places of resi- dence primarily are the result of the problems of securing living quarters in the city. These work and living patterns have important effects on the structure of the migrants' lives and on the social behavior and inter- action among and between laborers and merchants. I turn now to a discussion of these effects on laborers and merchants. LABORERS Most of the laborers live in small quarters in nuclear family units. Some were members of divided families when they came to the city; others have divided from brothers since their arrival; and still others are younger married men.who recently have divided from their fathers. Frequently, the idea for division is initiated and encouraged by a laborer's wife who may feel her husband works the hardest and contributes most to the family income. Sometimes it is initiated by a son who sees no reason to contribute to the coffers of a family which has no inheritable assets to pass on to him. And often, ecological factors precipitate the division; the family's small quarters provide no room to accomodate an expanding unit when a son marries. Even after family division, however, there frequently is a great deal of interaction among peOple since so many work in the Central Market. Many, in fact, are joined together in labor groupings within the market. These groupings, somewhat akin to guilds or 232g, are allowed to function as monOpolies by the government in the interest of orderly market Operation.3 One grouping brings all wholesale produce into the market and delivers it to the merchants: the other delivers large loads of produce to major buyers outside of the market. Slightly 3See Chesneaux, 1968, for a description of a . Briefly, a paggpwas a group exclusively proletarian in membership which was headed by a man who conducted negotiations for the employment of the £325. 10 11 over one-half of the members of the first group, which has a contractual agreement with the Vegetable Merchants' Association, are from Hsin Heing and the majority Of these men are from one patrilineage.a The second group, which has the tacit recognition of, but not a contract with the Vegetable Merchants' Association, was organized by a Hsin Hsing villager and more than half of its members are from the village. The preponderance of Hsin Hsing migrants in the two labor groups is not surprising; men from Hsin Being were among the earliest arrivals in the market, formed the largest prOportionate village grouping there, -- compared with the number of workers from any other single identifiable place --, and were most familiar with the vegetable agents. In addition, at the time the labor groups were formed -- the first in the 1950's and the second in the 1960's -- many of the laborers' relationships still were based on kinship and/or village identity. Such coaworkers could be trusted, could be expected to work well together in the group, and could promote its unity and effectiveness. (In the past they had behaved in such a manner.) Those workers in the groups who are not Hsin Hsing peOple, have filled positions which have become available in the years since the groups' organization. For example, eighteen men have been recruited into the group which has a contractual agreement with the Vegetable Merchants' Association. However, of these men, only seven are from Hsin Hsing and “The Vegetable Merchants' Association was organized by merchants in the mid-1950's in order to stabilize the Operation of the market; at that time, large numbers of cart-drivers competed for the work of trans- porting vegetables and confusion and disorder frequently ensued within the market. The government encouraged the Association to organize and perform this function. 12 the rest are from other places in Chang-hue County. It would seem, then, that the criteria for recruitment into the group are becoming relatively less particularistic: but this is not too surprising. Since their arrival in the city, all of the migrants have ex- tended their social networks to include peOple other than kinsmen and fellow villagers to whom they turn for recreation and help in times of need. As a result, being kinsmen and/or fellow villagers are not necessarily completely effective bases, as they once were, for the cOOper- ation necessary for the effectiveness and stability of the group. The unity of the group may well be better fostered by outsiders with whom members have some meaningful reciprocal relationships. In addition, the admission of outsiders into the groups might well prevent others from Organizing into similar groups which could threaten the groups' monOpolies. Despite the inclusion of outsiders into the groups, Hsin Hsing workers continue to exhibit a sense Of unity among themselves within the market. Along with non-group villagers -- later arrivals who were not able to find places in the more favored groups and who deliver small loads of produce on hand carts -- Hsin Hsing laborers form an informal coalition which promotes and protects their economic interests against police har- assment for alleged violations of regulations, demands for protection money from police and liu-magg (hoodlums) and competition from other groups. This informal coalition is based on the awareness that its success depends not only on sheer numerical size, but also on the unified front members present to others in the market.5 Laborers always 5Success also depends on support from influential members of the Vegetable Merchants' Association who sometimes help when they feel orderly market Operations might be affected by strikes among the laborers. 13 come to the aid of the villager who has a dispute with an outsider. Sometimes they will just gather around the disputants and offer visible and verbal support to their fellow, but if this action does not effec- tively intimidate the outsider into accepting a settlement, they will resort to fisticuffs to beat him into submission. They also attempt to minimize conflicts among themselves in order to maintain the solidarity and harmony of the coalition and pre- vent visible breaches within their ranks. When conflicts arise among laborers, others will intercede to arrange a quick and amicable settle- ment since an exacerbated situation might cause workers to choose sides and, thus, split the coalition. Intercession takes the form of media- tion: an individual -- respected and considered neutral -- is asked to talk with the antagonists and maneuver them into accepting some form of compromise solutiona' In most instances, the mediator is able to effect a settlement since the disputants accede to his decisions rather than show him disrespect and cause him to lose face -- or his reputation in the eyes of others. Through such activities, then, the coalition is able to maintain unity that secures some benefits for its members and as a consequence, laborers have much more to gain by identifying with this coalition than by renouncing their membership in it. Outside of the market, however, the laborers have failed to organize themselves into a cohesive, mutual aid group. In the absence of a structure that can wield soci0political power or exert pressure on individuals to conform to expected forms of behavior, an uncertainty, therefore, exists about kin and village-based relationships. Although kinsmen and fellow villagers represent a source of help and security that most likely can be tapped in times of need, laborers believe that 14 these relationships must be nurtured in order for them to be completely reliable: kinsmen and fellow villagers, therefore, seem to take greater care in maintaining good sentiment or Egg ghling with particular kin and fellow villagers with whom they wish to continue to have close ties.6 Frequently, they will lend each other small amounts of money without any interest or they will join each others money-lending or credit clubs.7 At the time of a wedding or other festive occasions, when many peOple must be entertained, they will Offer their services as hosts. And often they will send hung £22 (a gift of money wrapped in red paper) on the occasion of a wedding, even when they are not planning to attend the dinner for which such a gift is obligatory. The explanation given for this practice is "that it is done to make ign- c_h_'_i_t_1g," Leg m meaning the expression of good will or feeling. The gesture, however, is more than merely expressive, since laborers anticipate that the gift will be reciprocated at a time when they celebrate a similar occasion. A migrant, in fact, when he uses the compound jgn.gh;$g§ in speaking Of its occurrence in his relationship with another, always uses it with the word ghlign, meaning to owe. Thus, the practice is used as a means to set up personal obligation ties with Other! e 6532 ch'ing is the good or bad sentiment or feeling which exists between individuals. "It is basically a matter of structured Obligation. The feeling or sentiment results from satisfied or disappointed expecta- tions of apprOpriate behavior, and the expected behavior is behavior apprOpriate to the formal relationship of the two individuals within the social structure " (Callin 1966:303). 7Such clubs are common in both the rural area and the city; pea- sants and migrants rarely use formal banking or credit institutions. They Operate in the following way. A man in need of money will organize a club, perhaps asking twenty men to join. At the first meeting each joiner pays the organizer NT $25 (NT $40 equals 0.8. $1) so that he receives ’ 15 These ties, however, are voluntary, not obligatory and laborers thus believe it necessary to seek out peOple other than kinsmen and fellow villagers with whom they can ally themselves and on whom they can depend. Frequently, friendships are established with work mates. Since laborers usually spend time visiting with others after the day's work is done, they have the Opportunity to learn if these peOple "are of a like mind," i.e., similar in personality to themselves. Out of this pool, they pick those whom they think are "honest and sincere" and, therefore, capable of being "trusted," and cultivate them as friends. At the outset, these relationships are casual and primarily involve occasional get-togethers to eat or drink: such are the pro- prieties by which relationships are developed. Over time, many rela- tionships increase in intensity and evolve into close and cooperative ones involving exchanges of goods and services in both ritual and $500. At the next meeting each Of the twenty joiners makes a secret bid, the lowest bidder drawing money out at that time. He receives NT $25 from the organizer of the club, plus the amount he bid from each of the other bidders. The meetings continue this way until each member has received his money. Each person tries not to be the lowest bidder (unless he himself needs money and wishes to receive it at that time) for the longer a person stays in the club without drawing out his money, the more money he will receive. For example: First meeting -- organizer receives NT $500 (twenty peOple each Second meeting -- organizer gives lowest bidder NT $25 and the other nineteen members give lowest bidder the amount he bid, say NT $8 (19 x $8 + NT $25 . NT $177 to "winner"). Sixth meeting -- organizer plus the five men who have already with- drawn their money each pay low bidder NT $25 and all others the sum he bid, say NT $7 (15 x NT $7 + NT $25 x 6 - NT $255 to "winner"). Twentieth meeting -- organizer plus the nineteen men who have al- ready withdrawn their money pay low bidder NT $25, and the remaining man pays the amount bid, say NT $2 (NT $25 x 19 + NT $20 - NT $495 to "winner"). At the last meeting each man pays the winner $25 so that the last man to receive his money receives NT $500. 16 non-ritual contexts.8 0n festival occasions, friends are entertained, and migrants know they will be similarly entertained at some later date. At the time of a wedding or a death, friends help out with gifts Of money or with actual physical assistance. In addition, friends frequently visit each other's homes informally; even on these occasions, however, they are warmly received and served food and drink. Perhaps though, the most important service friends provide is in time of financial need when they furnish short-term loans without interest. (A friend, in fact, is defined as a "mutual-help person" or a "person who is not afraid to loan you money.") Sometimes, offers of aid are made spontaneously to the person in need. When people meet together informally, they discuss their work, the expenses they have incurred, and so on, and thus, in general, friends are aware of each Others financial situations and needs. Other times, offers of aid are made in response to cues put forth by the person in need during a con- versation: for example, "I have a problem and I don't know what to do." And at still other times, friends will offer to act as intermediaries to solicit direct aid from Others or to recruit participants for a money- lending club organized by the person in need. When friends offer such help in times of need, they are demon- strating the warmth and closeness they attach to the relationship. (This is especially so when they recruit others into a money-lending club, since should the recruitee renege on his obligation they become responsible for 8"The intensity of a link in a personal network refers to the degree to which individuals are prepared to honor Obligations, or feel free to exercise the rights implied in their link to some other person" (Mitchell 1969:27). 17 his debt to the other participants in the club.) In addition, by their offers they are expressing an unstated mutual understanding: in the fu- ture should they need help, they anticipate a similar type of behavior from their friend. There is, of course, no guarantee that in the future they will receive this same aid, but so long as friends wish to maintain a relationship, they will not jeOpardize it by disappointing Others' expectations and trust. Of course, the maintenance of a relationship is not uni-direc- tional and a person in need will also attempt to protect his relationships with those who represent a source of potential help. Thus, if a person is unsure whether aid will be forthcoming, he will use circumspect means to solicit it rather than court a refusal to his overtures for help -- a fairly reliable indication that the other party wishes to terminate the tie. An intermediary -- one who has good Egg ch'ing with both the petitioner and a third party -- will be asked to speak.with that person or someone close to him to see if there is a possibility that the request will be granted. Frequently, if the wives of friends know each other, the petitioner's wife will be sent as an intermediary to sound out the other man's wife. when wives do not know each other, a mutual friend will be sent to the other man to explain the petitioner's problem.9 Laborers also protect their relationships in other ways. Some do not maintain close _c_l_1_'_i_t_1_ SE}. relationships -- an important reciprocal relationship in the rural area -- because they believe that 9Although migrants agree that it is easier to ask a tsu relative directly for financial aid, frequently they also will use their wives as intermediaries to solicit aid rather than preclude the possibility of a refusal to a request for aid. 18 "if . . . [they] did and other peOple realized this, they would not offer help when it was needed."10 These laborers then, apparently attempt to maintain "loose-knit" social networks in which a high prOportion of all their acquaintances do not know one another (Bott 1971) in order to protect their potential sources of aid. Others, however, frequently develOp more "close-knit" networks, as friends made through the work situation are introduced to relatives and others with whom relationships have been developed. Over time, some of these peOple, in order to maximize the potentiality of each other as sources of aid, may decide to organize themselves into a sworn brotherhood group. Usually the suggestion to form the group is made when several men of "like minds" are gathered together socially. It is offered in a joking manner, as if to sound out the prospective members' feelings toward the idea, rather than to ascertain their answer to it: were any of the men disinclined to join such a group, a negative response to an . outright suggestion might jeopardize the already existent relationships. r Migrants believe that sworn brotherhood groups "unite people" by encouraging subscription to a common set of norms, by introducing a degree of "oughtness" into relationships, and by tying members into a many-stranded coalition (Wolf l966a:81). These relationships, thus, guarantee more than single-stranded relationships, that aid will be forthcoming when needed. If one sworn-brother failed in his performance toward another, the first brother could mobilize the sanctions of the 108cc Gallin 1960:632-634 for a discussion of the significance of matrilateral and affinal relationships. 19 group -- as well as all the bonds that link him to the other -- to oblige his sworn-brother to conform to expected behavior. Few would chance jeopardizing relationships with all by not meeting this obligation. Such relationships, however, do not satisfy the laborers' need for a broker between themselves and the government and the environment. Laborers report that it is not unusual for their families to be denied welfare benefits and government services because they have no 1552 m with their neighborhood chief (ligflghggg) who must certify their eligi- bility for such programs. They also report that they are unable to ob- tain official (or unofficial) legal aid, advice, or protection in times of conflict situations. The main reason why they are unable to secure these services is that they do not have close personal relationships with people who are in positions of power: their most intense relationships are with peOple whose resources are equally as limited as their own. Even though many laborers participate in associational groupings, such as the Chang-hue Regional Association, which offer Opportunities to make influential con- tacts, they are unable to incorporate these peOple into their networks since they meet them only in the context of the association and not else- where.11 Thus, the resolution of critical situations remains a major problem for them. 11The Regional Association was organized in the early 1960's by several politically ambitious men from Chang-hue. It seems, however, to function actively only around election time. MERCHANTS Of the five Hsin Hsing merchants, only two belong to nuclear families. Both of these men are in their mid-thirties, were members of divided families when they migrated, and married women in the city who helped finance their business ventures with money they had accumulated working. The three other merchants belong to larger family units: two joint and one stem. The joint families are headed by men in their forties who were members of undivided families when they migrated and who have been joined in the city by other family members. The stem family is headed by a man in his fifties who was a member of a divided family when he migrated, and whose nuclear family has expanded since his arrival. These men maintain larger families for several reasons. One rea- son is that their businesses need labor -- to handle and sell produce, \ to manage financial matters, and so on -- and family members are con- sidered a most dependable and trustworthy source. Unrelated personnel may cheat or steal from the business, may eventually develop into compe- titors (as the heads of these families themselves did to the men for whom they first worked) or may not be committed to the success of the enterprise. Another reason is that these men believe they can increase their economic resources by their cOOperative effort. Were family members to divide and work as individual merchants, none could handle the volume of 20 g. 21 business they now are able to, and all would be competing, not only for the group of customers with whom they have built up trade, but also for all those potential customers who might do business with them. Still another reason why these men maintain larger families is that they believe such a unit can increase and enhance their sociopoli- tical position and power. As the family's economic position becomes more secure, individual members are able to engage in more diversified activities (see below) which allow them to meet and deveIOp utilitarian relationships with those who possess power. Since the benefits of these individual relationships are extended to the total undivided family unit, the family's ability to maneuver socially, politically, and economically is increased and its reputation and position fortified. were the family to divide, individual members would lose some of their sociOpolitical "rating" and maneuverability, since none would be obliged to share the benefits of his advantageous alliances with the others. Thus, the mer- chants utilize kinship to construct a solid group in order to further their goals. The merchants also use village ties to achieve their desired ends. For example, in order to obtain vegetables on a daily basis, mer- chants must deal with an agent who buys produce from the farmers, ships it to them on credit and bases his charges on the average price for which particular vegetables sold during the business day. Sometimes then, several of the Hsin Hsing merchants will agree to quote the agent a slightly lower price than a vegetable actually brought in order to increase their profits for the day. (Such a practice would be extremely risky if carried on with someone who was not trusted, since a person could agree to report an agent a lower price, quote him a higher one, 22 and thus, put an end to the other party's source of supply.) Hsin Hsing migrants also recently have joined forces -- along ‘with other merchants from Chang-hue County -- in an attempt to increase their clout within the Vegetable Merchants' Association. Since its or- ganization, the Association has been controlled by and primarily bene- fited merchants from the northern part of Taiwan. In 1969, however, the southern merchants, i.e., merchants from Chang-hue County, met together and agreed thenceforth to vote as a body when the Association met to deliberate issues or elect officers. By uniting together, the southern merchants believed they would be able to exert influence within the Association. The alliance of the Hsin Hsing merchants has evolved slowly, however. Since they compete for both customers and agents, merchants previously only maintained individual and utilitarian relationships with each other. The fact that some of them cooperated together to man- ipulate the prices sent to agents does not imply that they liked each other; it merely implies that they believed more was to be gained by cOOperating than by acting as individuals. In fact, with the exception of discussions they occasionally had at the end of the work day or at meetings they attended, the Hsin Hsing merchants, until recently, seemed to have very formal relationships with each other; invitations and gifts were exchanged on the occasion of certain life cycle events, but these exchanges were apparently more an attempt to maintain good _k_a_n_ M than true expression of warmth and closeness. Those intense relation- ships which Hsin Hsing merchants maintained -- in a manner similar to that described earlier -- usually were not with their fellow merchants but with others they had met since their arrival in the city. In most 23 instances though, these men also were from Chang-hue, the tie of region- ality being used as a vehicle to start the conversation from which the friendships developed. This tie of regionality also W88 used as a vehicle to draw peo- ple together for more practical purposes -- and was instrumental in fostering the alliance of the Hsin Hsing and southern merchants. In 1969, when elections were held in Taiwan for positions in the Taipei City Council, the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan, the Chang-hue Regional Association began actively to recruit members in order to mobilize support for the candidates its board favored. At that time, the three oldest Hsin Hsing merchants -- as well as several other merchants from Chang-hua -- were "invited" to become section chiefs of the neighborhoods in which they lived in order to recruit members from its pOpulstion. The merchants were first approached by an intermediary, a man who maintained good _l_c_a_n M with both them and the officers of the Association, and notified them that the positions were available. The merchants then sent a contribution to the Association "to help further its interests" -- an investment, they no doubt also believed would further their own interests -- and subsequently were "invited" to accept the position.12 As the Hsin Hsing merchants have become more involved in the activities of the Association, they have had the Opportunity not only to extend their relational networks upward within the city's social and political structure, but also to meet and relate with each other in an 12The process by which the section chiefs recruited members will be discussed below when I deal with the relationships between the merchants and the laborers. 24 arena other than the one in which they normally compete. As a result, their preexisting ties have been reenforced and they have develOped cooperative relationships with each other and other merchants from the home area. In some instances, these relationships have been strengthened further by overlapping membership and activity in other associational groupings such as clan (single surname) associations, Chinese boxing groups and so on. In fact, initiation into such groupings usually is dependent upon an existent relationship with one or more Of its members who will arrange for an "invitation" tO join the group if the potential member responds positively when queried about his interest in partici- pating. Few merchants would reject such overtures, however, since: 1) their disinterest might jeOpardize their existent relationship with the "inviter" by causing him embarrassment at his misjudgment of the situation; and 2) such groupings provide Opportunities to meet new peo- ple and develOp personal relationships which can be utilized outside of the framework Of the association itself. The develOpment and maintenance Of such relationships follow a pattern similar to that which I described earlier for the laborers. Some of these relationships become extremely close and are intensified by the formation of sworn brotherhood groupings. Sometimes, however, sworn brotherhood groupings are organized among merchants and others, not as an outgrowth of warm friendships, but rather solely as a means to maximize the socioeconomic and political Opportunities of their participants; friendship is used as a vehicle to recruit members and solidify them over time, but participants are recruited selectively with consideration given to the potential contribution Of each individual to the group. 25 All five of the Hsin Using merchants belong to one such group which was organized shortly after the 1969 elections and includes in its membership: a city councilwoman whose father is a National Assemblyman; the neighborhood chief (112:22225) of Chemg Chung District; a member of the Board of the Ch'eng Chung Cooperative Bank; the head of the Chang-hue Regional Association; and the Vice-chief of the Provincial Water Bureau. .The activities which culminated in its formation began when several mer- chants in the market recognized and articulated the potential value Of joining together with these peOple. In exchange for economic and socio- political favors, the merchants would Offer a political constituency to the candidates these men favored.13 The evolution of the brotherhood occurred in several stages, and at each stage care was taken to protect existing and potential rela- tionships. First, the originators of the idea approached others -- in- cluding the Hsin Hsing merchants -- to see if they would be interested in participating in such a grouping if it could be organized. Then, when they had generated a sufficiently large and interested group, individuals who maintained good _k_a_n_ m with the more influential people were delegated to approach them and determine their feelings toward such a grouping. Finally, when the influential peOple agreed to participate in the group, invitations were sent out to twenty-eight in- dividuals -- an unusually large number -- to join the brotherhood. The group's first meeting was held at a local wine house and at that time a formal set of rules was drawn up, enumerating the tangible 13This constituency was to include all the migrant laborers with whom the merchants maintained ties and I will return to this point below. The city councilwoman's name was not included on the list of prospective members but when she heard that such a group might be formed, she asked that she be allowed to become a member. 26 and intangible Obligations of the members to each other and directing that meetings, i.e., dinner parties, should be held every three months at members' homes on a rotating basis. Such parties are intended to foster the camaraderie of the group. Since this grouping has united peOple of different socioeconomic statuses, its more influential mem- bers, in order to maximize the solidarity and effectiveness Of the brotherhood, attempt to Obscure these distinctions. LABORERS AND MERCHANTS We have seen that the merchants, through their participation in associational groupings, have extended their relationships upward in the city's social and political structure and secured economic and sociOpOli- tical benefits for themselves and their larger family units. They have been recruited into these associations and in theory accepted as equals by those who are of higher standing in the community, because it is be- lieved that they can contribute to these groupings and to their leaders by delivering the votes of lower-class migrants, with whom they have ties of kinship and village, to those who seek power within the political arena. The merchants, therefore, in order to remain welcome among those of higher standing, believe that they must maintain ties with the laborer migrants. We also have seen that the laborers for the most part lack meaningful relationships with upper-class peOple and with those having power, and that many Of the problems they face, especially those Of relationships with the wider society Of the city, are not easily solved. Their most promising avenue to those who might help them in time of need are peOple with whom they recognize mutual obligations, and who will manipulate their own effective vertical relationship in the laborers' behalf. The laborers, therefore, in order to gain access to those with influence, believe they must maintain ties with the merchants. Both groups Of migrants then, in order to fulfill their own 27 28 interests, feel it is mutually advantageous to, and do, maintain rela- tionships with each other. These relationships, however, tend to conform to a patron-client model, rather than to alliances of peOple who are equals.14 In the relationship, the merchant-patron offers to excercise indirect influence on those with power to help the laborer-client cir- cumvent the Often unpredictable and capricious decisions of the government bureaucracy. In exchange, the laborer-client Offers political support and status, thus providing the means by which the merchant can secure cOOperation from those with power. One Of the ways the laborers maintain patron-client relationships ‘with the merchants is by setting up lgn_ch'i§g, i.e., personal obligation ties with them. Several of the laborers clean up the merchants' stalls at the end Of the work day for no pay or perform other small personal services for them, and most send them.hEE§.222 on special occasions. They do not expect to receive an equivalent gift in return, but hOpe rather to receive social and political favors from them at some future time. In addition, even though they are not related, laborers some- times will try to assume some Of the forms of kinship and will use kin- ship terms Of address or reference when speaking Of or with merchants. One reason for such usage is to imply that the feeling Of Obligation which exists between real kinsmen using these terms, exists between mer- chant and laborer and will be acknowledged and honored. Another purpose seems to be to show overtly that they respect the merchants. Laborers also show their respect for the merchants by tangibly 14See Foster 1967:213-230 and Wolf l966a:86-87 and 1966b:16-l7 for discussion Of patron-client relations. 29 giving expression to the superordinate-eubordinate quality Of the patron- client relationship. Often, the laborers will ask the merchants to mediate disputes they have among themselves or with others. Since the role of the mediator is always held by a respected individual, they thereby are recognizing the merchants' superior status. In addition, when they ask a merchant to help them in this way, they not only are recognizing his ability to do so, and, therefore, his superior status, but also that his patronage may be withdrawn if the parties do not accede to his adjudication. Still another way laborers maintain exchange relationships with ‘merchants is through participation in village activities. For example, annually, Hsin Hsing and eleven other villages in the district, conduct a procession in honor of the Goddess Matsu. Each year, or sometimes for two consecutive years, a different village serves as host, taking charge Of the preparation and organization of the procession, and assuming the cost involved in these tasks. In the spring of 1969, at the urging of and promise of major support by the migrants, Hsin Hsing agreed to host the event for the year. In urging the village to accept responsibility for the procession, the merchants and laborers had rather different goals in mind. The mer- chants,whO took the lead, viewed the festival as an Opportunity to im- press their city acquaintances with their importance and to improve their ties with them. Many brought along friends to enjoy the event and to witness the prestige and honor bestowed upon them. The laborers, on the other hand, were more concerned with potential benefits that might accrue to them in supporting the merchants than they were with demonstrating their status. They were playing the role Of client, hOping that when 30 needed in the future, they could call on the merchants for a variety Of favors. The merchants and the laborers understand each others motives and behavior: how then do they redeem the claims on each other which their actions generate? Earlier I discussed how several merchants were invited to be section chiefs of the Regional Association, in order to recruit members who would provide reliable support for candidates in an election. The merchants, in accepting these offices, recognized that their success could bolster and make more secure their positions, and they therefore carefully selected the rationale on which to base their appeal. They played upon village and kin ties, acknowledging them as meaningful links which implied acts Of reciprocity, and articulated the future benefits which might accrue to the migrants if the candidates won. As one merchant said, It is important for Hsin Hsing eOple to stick together in voting since we are alone here [Taipeif and have no one to work for our interests. Therefore, we must vote together and get someone who is related [linked] to some of us elected so that he can help us. In addition, where possible, merchants called upon Obligations which had been created by favors they had provided laborers in the past. In conversations, which might go on for a long time, they indirectly con- veyed the impression that the time had come for past claims to be honored. In the end, almost all of the laborers did join the Association and vote for the favored candidates.15 Some did so because they were discharging an Obligation incurred in the past; others, because failure 15Host Hsin Hsing peOple seem to feel that once they "promise" their vote to a candidate, they are "obligated" to vote for him. Some laborers, however, confided in conversations, that they had feigned support for one candidate and then voted for another. 31 to do so might have caused them to suffer the loss Of a potentially use- 16 And many did so because they hOped their support ful relationship. would initiate a potential exchange relationship with the candidates which could be manipulated in the future. For example, there have been occasions in the past when laborers have approached a former provincial assemblyman from Chang-hue -- a man for whom they had voted -- to seek his help with some problem with which they were faced. Sometimes he responded to their request -- conveyed during a lengthy conversation overlaid with politeness and flattery ~- and used his resources to intervene in their behalf. (Sometimes, of course, he refused, but this refusal was expressed with great sympathy and regret, as if to convey that he recognized an exchange relationship existed but was unable, because Of extenuating circumstances, to fulfill his responsibilities.) Most Of the time, however, he has been relatively ineffective in resolving the laborers' problems, probably because the political and regional bonds which tie him to them are too tenuous to result in anything more than his marginal interest in their affairs. As a result, most of the laborers realize that their ability to secure help depends, if not upon a close and effective relationship with men of influence, at least upon personal ties with peOple who do have such relationships and are willing to use up their "social credit" in their behalf. Accordingly, the laborers initiate 131‘. m with the merchants in the hOpe that they will intervene in their behalf when necessary. And the merchants in turn, express their willingness to ful- fill these Obligations by continuing their ties with the laborers. 16As one migrant said, "When I am asked for help, I won't refuse, since I never know when I will need that person." DISCUSSION In this paper, I have described the social behavior and inter- action among and between two groups of migrants from the same village who do not form a cohesive urban community, but who are bound by certain formal and informal ties. The description has been based on ethnographic data which were not collected to test specific hypotheses. As a result, the discussion that follows falls into the category Of what Merton calls "post factum sociological interpretation" (1967:147-148). A disarming characteristic Of the procedure is that the explana- tions are indeed consistent with the given set of observations . . . Post factum explanations remain at the level Of plausibility (low evidential value) rather than leading to 'compelling evi- dence' (a high degree of confrontation). Plausibility . . . is found when an interpretation is consistent with one set of data . . . . It also implies that alternative interpretations equally consistent with the data have not been systematically explored and that inferences drawn from the interpretation have not been tested by new observations. (Italics his.) Merton's criticisms apply to my material. However, since the scope of this paper does not allow me to make ". . . distinctive tests of the interpretations apart from the consistency with the initial Ob- servations. .. .", I will attempt to present ". . . the conditions under which the hypotheses will be found to hold true . . ." (Merton 1967:148-149) in order to lessen Merton's criticisms. An economic and social gulf separates the Rain Hsing laborers and merchants. The networks of the peOple within each group, to a large extent, have different characteristics. The networks of the laborers have a strong "regional" character and primarily include peOple whose 32 33 resources are equally as limited as their own. In large part, the condi- tions which have generated these networks are: the laborers' economic activities; their continuing ties with the rural area; and their lack of alternative sources of cohesion. The Hsin Hsing laborers work, not only at the same types of jobs, but within the same market. (As jobs in the market become more scarce, and factory jobs more available, it is likely that newly arriving migrants may take up employment elsewhere: a factor which may affect the character of their networks.) Within the market, the laborers have allied themselves into a loosely-structured coalition. Participation in this coalition does not commit them to become involved with one another in other contexts, but has tended to reinforce their existent kin and village ties and thus convert their single interest tie into multiplex relations. In addition, since this coalition is based on the principle of home ties, it has tended to attract newer Hsin Hsing migrants, who view membership in the coalition as a means Of obtaining security within the market. The later migrants' participation in the coalition has swelled its size and solidified its strength as a protective force against the hostility of other groupings. (Had the coalition been based on another principle, it may not have been as attractive to new- comers and thus not become as solidifying, cohesive and reinforcing Of existent ties.) Village (and kinship) ties, however, do not override all others as bases of recruitment into the laborers' networks; the intensity with which village-based relationships are invested varies, and laborers be- lieve it is necessary to seek out other peOple with whom they can ally themselves. However, because they must work seven days a week at 34 unconventional hours, they are restricted in the categories fromwwhich they can pick and choose those on whom they wish to concentrate. As a result, their most intense relationships are with other laborers, who most often are from their home area, Chang-hua county. The regional character of the laborers' networks also is fos- tered by their continuing ties with the home village, as for example, in the laborers' participation in the village Matsu procession.17 Their ability to move between city and country in order to engage in such cooperative activities is facilitated by Taiwan's well-developed com- munication systems which make it possible to reach the village within five or six hours. Such accessibility and resultant contact (even if it becomes less frequent over time), reinforce the laborers' identifica- tion as Hsin Hsing people and contribute to their continued involvement with each other in the city. The laborers also are held together in the city because they lack alternative sources of cohesion. Few participate in associational groupings which might provide them with an opportunity to forge bonds with those who come from other places: the one association to which most belong -- the Chang-hua Regional Association -- only provides them with opportunities to join together with people with‘whom they already have ties. In addition, unions -- which might serve as an alternative source of cohesion -- are not viable groups in Taiwan, nor have they 17Space did not permit me to note, however, that most migrants retain houses, land and ancestral tablets in the village. In addition, I did not note that migrants frequently are visited in the city by fel- low villagers; in their capacity as hosts, they are brought together with other villagers. All of these actions then, provide opportunities for continued contact with the village and each other. 35 been in China generally.18 In many respects, the difficulties encoun- tered in trying to form labor organizations in Taiwan are similar to those encountered on the Chinese mainland. Class consciousness did not deveIOp among many Chinese workers because they labored in small workshops where ". . . the distance between employer and worker was not so very great, and every worker could hope to become some day or other a small producer" (Chesneaux 1968:87). In addition, the progress of the labor movement was affected by the fact that ". . . workers with no special skill could easily be replaced, since all the employers had to do was dip into the limitless reserves of labor provided by the unem- ployed and the underemployed among the urban pOpulace and the peasants who had left the land" (Chesneaux 1968:83). Perhaps though, the diffi- culties encountered in China as a result of ". . . the severity of official regulations concerning labor activities" (Chesneaux 1968:123), is replicated most closely in Taiwan. The Taiwan government antipathy seems to be the main cause of the lack of union activity. "Labor unions exist . . . mainly to regi- ment the workers, but [they] are not allowed to strike or bargain like their counterparts in Western countries" (Mendel 1970:81-82). In part, these restrictions are enforced by the government in an'attempt to attract foreign investors to the island with the lure of cheap labor (Mendel 1970:82). In part, they also are enforced as a means to suppress 18The one period when the labor movement flourished in China was during 1919-1927. At that time, the movement had a strong anti-foreign tone and most of the workers' efforts were made in "behalf of movements led by members of other social classes -- specifically, the commercial bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia" (Chesneaux 1968:132). Chesneaux's book deals with the Chinese labor movement during the seven year period it was active in China and my brief discussion of unions relies heavily on his work. 36 groups which may become too strong and present a challenge to the government. The laborers also do not participate in political parties which might serve as an alternative source of cohesion. Those parties which do exist in Taiwan, the Kuomintang which dominates the political scene and two small Opposition parties, were organized on the mainland and are dominated by mainlanders. The laborers show little interest in their machinations. However, the fact that the government ". . . plays off one native [Taiwanese] group or leader against another . . ." in elections for local and provincial office (Mendel 1970:95) eventually may have a deleterious effect on the laborers' present cohesion. Since such groups tend to vie for the laborers' votes with promises of future patronage, partisanship along faction lines may develop among laborers and weaken their existent cohesion. The composition of the merchants‘ networks are influenced by some of the same conditions that affect the characteristics of the laborers' networks: working in the same market creates economic ties among merchants and continuing contact with the home area tends to re- inforce their identity as Hsin Hsing peOple and encourage their involve- ment with each other. However, the focus and frequency of the merchants' interaction was extended and their cohesion fostered not only by these conditions but mainly by their joint participation in sociopolitical associations. Their participation in these associations has been made possi- ble by their secure economic position which allows family members time for such activities and the willingness to risk losing the security of the ties they brought from the rural area in order to find greater 37 advantages in other contexts. The fact that men "aspiring to pres- tige and status in the urban world" join such associations has been found by Epstein (1969) to be a phenomenon common in both America and Africa. Surveying the literature on these areas he writes, there is ". . . a close connection between membership of associations and socio- economic status: the lower one's position on the scale, the fewer the associations to which one belongs" (1969:258). These associations, however, involve "only special competen- cies . . . in particular questions of concrete group interest . . . [and are not a] joint association representing a community of city burghers pg: 33.. . ." (Weber 1958:83, his italics). "No political community of citizens . . ." (Weber 1958:120) exists in Taiwan. Histor- ically, of course, merchants in China never became an independent power. Why they did not is itself a topic for a paper since the answer to it is not simple. One important factor, however, which did contribute to their non-development -- and one which has bearing on the merchants' situation in Taiwan -- was the central government bureaucracy which suppressed them at the same time that it related with them.19 A strong centralized government and bureaucracy run Taiwan today and affect the ability of the merchants to join together. Since the government plays a major role in banks, credit, subsidies and finances generally, and dispenses favors to those who remain "politically obedient" (Mendel 1970:95), it is to the merchants' advantage to form a community of interest with the government: patronage and government support are important for any business venture. At the same time, since 19Two historical works which deal with studies of social structure and bureaucracy are Balazs, 1964 and Wittfogel, 1967. 38 the government has suppressed any group which might threaten its control, there is no political power outside the government to which the mer- chants could turn for support if they wanted to create a special class having specific political powers. Thus, neither merchants nor laborers form a "class" and there is no structured class conflict between them.20 Instead, the Hsin Hsing laborers and merchants form a coalition based on a patron-client rela- tion. Wolf (l966b:l7-18) notes that the forms these relations take vary in different circumstances. The relations I am describing seem to occur where "power domains are strong and levels of articulation are rigid" (Adams 1970), that is where exchange transactions between two "levels" of society must be channeled through a broker because the "levels" are unable to "confront" each other. For example, the Hsin Hsing laborers need help in ameliorating some of the difficulties that confront them, but they have little chance for direct or personal contact with those who have power and the ability to manipulate it for their own or others' advantage. At the same time, those who have power cannot possibly personally exert their influence on (i.e., to promote their political interests) an infinite number of people. The two levels then, in order to effect an exchange -- patronage for political support: political support for patronage -- must be linked. The Hsin Hsing merchants function as this link by using their personal ties and influence to get those with power to intervene in the laborers' 201 am speaking of "class" in the Marxian sense, i.e., to denote ". . . political groups united by a common interest . . . [classes are spoken of] only in the realm of political conflict . . . . A political movement . . . is a movement of the class in order to realize its inter- ests in a general form, in a form that possesses universal social con- straining force" (Dahrendorf 1959:16, quoting Marx). 39 behalf and the laborers to vote for those with power. It would seem then, that not until ". . . new sources of power [are] Opened up, and multiple access to power . . . [is] made possible by organizing political parties, mass organizations, labor unions, and the like . . ." (Adams 1970:322) will the patron-client coalition be- tween laborers and merchants become both ineffective and unnecessary. In Taiwan, this does not seem likely and the relationship between labor- ers and merchants probably will be an enduring one. Thus far I have been discussing the characteristics of the Rain Hsing migrants' networks. Now I would like to turn to a discussion of the principles which govern their origin and maintenance. The primary organizing principle of the migrants' networks is instrumentality. Hsin Hsing merchants and laborers recruit peOple into their networks in order to achieve their desired ends: economic and sociOpolitical security. Both utilize kin and village ties in order to organize relationships which will protect and promote their interests. Within the market, the Rain Hsing laborers formed a coalition in response to the demands of the authorities and 132.2325 and the hostility of other groupings. The Hsin Hsing merchants joined together to maximize their profits, guarantee their source of supply of vegetables, and increase their clout within their occupational association. Outside of the market, Hsin Hsing laborers relate with their fellows in the hope that they will help them in time of need, and with the merchants in the hOpe that they can secure some of the political benefits and security that results from merchants' activities. The Rain Hsing merchants relate with the laborers in the hOpe that their identi- fication with these men will make them more welcome in and valuable to 40 the sociopolitical groupings to which they belong. In addition, both also pick and choose from other categories of people individuals with whom they forge bonds that can be manipulated to provide them with poten- tial help and a measure of security. The primary maintenance principle of these networks is affec- tivity. Social exchanges involve ". . . voluntary actions of individuals that are motivated by the returns they are expected to bring and typi- cally do in fact bring from others" (Blau 1964:91). In order to better assure, however, that others will discharge their obligations, Hsin Hsing migrants invest their relationships with Ehllflfi (feeling). They believe that when Ebfllflfiw or feeling exists between A and B, B's sympa- thy will be aroused when he sees A in need, and he will respond to this need with help. Migrants articulate this principle when they talk about the importance of maintaining .1352. cm (sentiment) and Leg ch'igg (feeling) in their relationships with others: when good 522.ch'igg exists between two peOple, they respond to each other with behavior appropriate to each other's expectations; when jgn_ch'ing exists between two peOple, they do things for each other because they expect a response in kind. Thus, being friends, fellow villagers or kinsmen do not necessarily determine the migrants' personal feelings and overt behavior toward each other: the ch'ipg with which these relationships are invested does. Finally, I cannot conclude a paper based on Chinese data without discussing the role kinship plays in the lives of these migrants: for many, it remains a viable focus for orienting urban relationships. Most Hsin Hsing merchants are organized into larger families, since such groupings allow them to maximize their economic and 41 sociOpolitical opportunities. (Almost all hsin Hsing laborers, however, are organized into nuclear family units; since jobs as laborers are neither cOOperative business ventures nor inheritable assets, a larger economic unit serves little purpose for family members.) More distant patrilineal relationships are also utilized by migrants to orient relationships. Cart-drivers who were members of the same £22, organized a labor grouping within the market and limited its membership in an attempt to foster the harmony and solidarity of the group. Later, when these ties lost some of their reliability -- and, therefore, their utility -- they Opened the membership to non-kinsmen to encourage the cOOperatiOn necessary for the effectiveness and sta- bility of the group. In part, these ties have lost some of their reliability because in the city no formal lineages exist which can draw peOple together and foster reciprocal relationships. Since such groupings tend to develOp to command resources associated with agricultural pursuits (Freedman 1966:36-37; 159-160), "urban conditions . . . have aborted any tendency for a traditional pattern of lineage grouping to emerge" (Freedman 1966: 165).21 One of the reasons the urban setting may discourage the develop- ment of lineages is that in the city, peOple, in order to gain security, must use as many diverse bases as possible to recruit others into the 21The question of why urban conditions are antithetical to lin- eage organizations is an important one which largely remains unanswered, even by Freedman. Anderson (170:363-365) suggests that access and con- trol of land is the crucial variable in lineage develOpment, while Willmott (1970:50; 163-164) in a comparison of overseas Chinese commun- ities and urban society in China suggests that the immigrant nature of the urban community prevents a system of lineage elaboration. It is be- yond the scOpe Of this paper, however, to attempt more than a cursory discussion of this question. 42 groupings they form. Lineages which limit their membership on the basis of common descent, do not allow them to do this and, thus, serve little purpose. Clans, however, which attract as large a membership as possible on the basis of a single surname, do. As a result, clan organizations which serve important functions for their members, flourish in the city, and several Hsin Hsing merchants participate in these groupings. In addition, all the Hsin Hsing merchants and almost all the Rain Hsing laborers belong to fictive kinship groupings, i.e., sworn brotherhoods. These groups increase their members' security by struc- turing relationships which otherwise lack this strength. That these relationships are structured within a framework of kinship, speak for its viability and utility as an organizing principle for these migrants' networks. Under what conditions, then, would kinship not be as important as a focus for orienting relationships? Perhaps it will be easier to answer this question by first summarizing the significance Of kinship in Chinese society. Fung Yu-lan (1948:21) wrote: The family system was the social system of China. Out of the five traditional relationships, which are those between sovereign and subject, father and son, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend, three are family rela- tionships. The remaining two, though not family relationships, can be conceived of in terms of the family. Thus the relation- ship between sovereign and subject can be conceived of in terms of that between father and son, and that between friend and friend in terms of the one between elder and younger brother . . . . But these are only the major family relationships, and there were many more. In the Erh :3, . . . the Oldest dic- tionary of the Chinese language, dating from before the Chris- tian era, there are more than one hundred terms for various family relationships, most of which have no equivalent in the English language. A great part of Confucianism is the rational justification of this social system, or its theoretical expression. This Confucian tradition dominated and permeated society as a 43 whole in China for over 2,000 years. Today in Taiwan, its ideals and values continue to exert their influence on these migrants, since "one advantage of [such] a system of status (as opposed to our individ- ualistic system of contractual relations) is that a man knows automa- tically where he stands in his family or society. he can have security in the knowledge that if he does his prescribed part he may expect re- ciprocal action from others in the system" (Fairbank 1959:31-32).22 In China, then, a literary tradition defined kinship as "the main pillar of society" (Balazs 1964:155-156) and it was elaborated to such a point that it became the overriding relationship of its people. In attempting to answer the question I posed earlier, i.e., under what conditions would kinship not be as important as a focus for orienting relationships, one condition would have to be where the system of ideas used to rationalize and justify the system of power did not define it as such. Such an answer, however, does not really satisfy the intent of the question since there are many societies in which a literary tradi- tion is lacking but in which kinship is an important focus for orienting relationships. To speculate about conditions in these societies, however, would be presumptuous on my part. I only can suggest, therefore, on the basis of the data presented in this paper, that, in spite of the presence of a literary tradition, kinship loses some of its importance as a focus for orienting relationships when: 22In fact, today in Taiwan, ". . . as an ideological defense against Communism, the government has recently launched a Movement for the Renaissance of Chinese Civilization . . . the essence of which is to combine Confucian virtues such as filial piety [Often translated as obedience], harmony, and compromise with scientific and technological florescence" (Hsu 1970:359). (,4 l) a kinship organization which could wield sociopolitical power or exert pressures on individuals to conform to expected forms of behavior is lacking; 2) kinship neither provides a badge Of identity nor determines a person's social credit and rating; and 3) kinship does not provide the social resources to operate in the arena of non-kin relations. In conclusion, then, although the material presented in this paper has been unable to address the questions of commonality and varia- tion in migrant networks, I hope it has suggested questions for further investigation and advanced the search for regularities in urban life. LIST OF REFERENCES LIST OF REFERENCES Adams, Richard N. 1970 "Brokers and Career MObility Systems in the Structure of Complex Societies." In Southwestern Journal 2i Anthropology, Vol. 26, NO. 4, Winter, pp. 315-327. Anderson, E. N., Jr. 1970 "Lineage AtrOphy in Chinese Society." In American Anthro- lO ist, Vol. 72, No. 2, April; pp. 363-365. Balazs, Etienne 1964 Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy. New Haven: Yale University Press. Blau, Peter M. 1964 Exchapge and Power 12 Social Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Bott, Elizabeth 1971 Family and Social Network. London: Tavistock Publications, Ltd. - Che sneaux, Jean 1968 The Chinese Labor Movement. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Dahrendorf , Ralf 1959 Class and Class Conflict ig_Industrial Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Epstein, A. L. 1969 "Urbanization and Social Change in Africa." In The City i2 Newly Developigg Countries, Gerald Breese, ed., Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., pp. 246-263. Fairbank, John King 1959 The United States and China. Cambridge: Harvard University Foster, George M. 1967 "The Dyadic Contract: A MOdel for the Social Structure of a Mexican Peasant Town." In Peasant Societ , Jack M. Potter, May N. Diaz, George M. Foster, eds., Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 213-229. 45 46 Freedman, Maurice 1966 Chinese Lineage and Society. New York: Humanities Press, Inc. Fung Yu-lan 1948 A Short Histo_y of Chinese Philosophy. D. Bodde, ed., New York: Macmillan. Gallin, Bernard 1960 "Matrilateral and Affinal Relationships of a Taiwanese Village." In American Anthropologist, Vol. 62, No. 4, August; pp. 632-642. 1966 Hsin Hsing, Taiwan: A Chinese Vill_ge in Change. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hsu, Francis L. K. 1972 Americans and Chinese. Garden City: Doubleday Natural History Press. Jacoby, Neil H. 1966 U. S. Aid to Taiwan. New York: Frederick A. Praeger. Lang, Olga 1946 Chinese Family and Society. New Haven: Yale University Press. Mendel, Douglas 1970 The Politics of Formosan Nationalism. Berkeley; University of California Press. Merton, Robert K. 1967 92 Theoretical Sociolggy. New York: Free Press. Mitchell, Clyde, J. 1969 "The Concept and Use of Social Networks." In Social Networks in Urban Situations, J. Clyde Mitchell, ed., New York: Human- ities Press, Inc., pp. 1-50. Weber, Max 1958 Thg_City. New York: The Free Press. 1970 The Political Structure of the Chinese Community in Cambodia. New York: Humanities Press, Inc. Wittfogel, Karl A. 1967 Oriental Degpotism. New Haven: Yale University Press. Wolf, Eric R. 1966a Peasants. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. l966b "Kinship, Friendship and Patron-Client Relations in Complex Societies." In The Social Anthropglggy_ of Complex Societies. Michael Benton, ed., London: Tavistock Publications, pp. 1- 20. HICHIGRN STATE UNIV. LIBRRRIES ll |||| 9 312 3103723049