INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. liMI films the text directly from the original or copysubmitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send liMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrightmaterial had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sectionswith small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UM! directly to order. U·M·I University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, M148106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9506282 The proletarianization process and the transformation of Taiwan's working class Sen, Yow Suen, Ph.D. University of Hawaii, 1994 V·M·I 300N. Zeeb Rd. AnnArbor,MI48106 THE PROLETARIANIZATION PROCESS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF TAIWAN'S WORKING CLASS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOCIOLOGY AUGUST 1994 By Yow Suen Sen Dissertation Committee Hagen Koo, Chairperson Herbert R. Barringer Gene G. Kassebaum Alvin Y. So Robert B. Stauffer iii C Copyright 1994 by Yow Suen Sen All Rights Reserved iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most directly responsible for the completion of this dissertation are the members of my dissertation committee. In particular, professor Hagen Koo, my adviser, whose teaching, encouragement, and patience have made this dissertation possible. His detailed reading and comments on several drafts of this dissertation not only helped to refine my writing but more importantly helped to clarify my thinking. Special thanks to professor Bob Stauffer who graciously agreed to serve on my committee as a last moment replacement for Dr. David Wu who was teaching in Hong Kong in the final stage of my long career as a graduate student. Professors Alvin So, Gene Kassebaum, Herb Barringer, and Bob Stauffer offered constructive criticisms and invaluable editorial suggestions at various stages of my research. It is through their collective effort that this dissertation is a better work than it would otherwise have been. Thanks are extended to the Department of sociology, and especially the administrative staff, Jessie and Jan, for their support and understanding throughout my stay in Hawaii. There are countless people who I am indebted to for their intellectual and emotional support, but the following persons deserve at least a token of my gratitUde by mentioning their names: Barry Barnes, Franz Broswimmer, Val v Burris, Fo-Gwo Chen, Wen-Ling Chen, Jeffrey Chern and family, Sung-Nam Cho, Dorothy Goldsborough, Shi-Jen He, Karen Joe, Jen-Chieh Lien, Carol Lin, Wei-Chih Lin and family, James Liu, Peter Manicas, stephen Philion, Emma Porio, Gwo-Shyong Shieh, Gerard SUllivan, and Ya-Ko Wang. Finally, my greatest gratitude goes to my family, especially my parents, for their unfailing support and tremendous patience throughout my graduate study. vi ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the structural conditions of Taiwan's working-class formation. It seeks to answer the following questions: What is the dominant pattern of proletarianization that has accompanied Taiwan's export-led industrialization since the 1960s, and what was the specific role of the female labor force? What are the demographic and social characteristics of the industrial wage workers? How is Taiwan's working class internally divided? What is the economic situations, especially income situations, of the working class as compared to other classes? And how has class formation at the macro­ structural level been manifested in the arena of the labor movement? It is observed that the proletarian experience in Taiwan is extensive in the sense that it involved a majority of the labor force, yet it is not intensive in the sense that for many workers wage work represents only a transitory stage or part of the overall household income­ earning strategy. One important factor that sustains this pattern of proletarianization is the way in which women were incorporated into the labor market. Young women went to factories While older women became the unpaid family labor to support men:s entrepreneurial ventures. vii With three decades of rapid proletarianization, internally, the working class has changed from a class consisting predominately of male blue-collar workers to a class that consists of workers in blue-, white-, gray-, and pink-collar appearances. Underneath these diverse appearances, nonetheless, is their shared position in the production and distribution processes. Demographically, this working class has matured as its members have become more educated, older, less transient, and increasingly coming from a proletarian background. Politically, the working class has shown signs of translating its members' common economic and social predicaments into collective actions. The structural constraints--the disperse and decentralized industrial structure, the repressive political system--that prohibited the social and cultural formation of the working class have softened, though by no means disappeared. The future trajectory of the working­ class movement in Taiwan will be determined by the actions of capital and the KMT-state as much as by the actions of the working class. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •••• •• i V ABSTRACT. •••••••••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• vi LIST OF TABLES. Cl ••••••••••••••••••••••• xi LIST OF FIGURES •••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••• xiv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ••••••••••••••••• •••• 1 Approaches to Class•••••••••••••••••• • ••• 3 Agenda Ahead••••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••• 11 Notes on Data•••••••••••••••••••••••• ............ 14 Notes••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• u 23 CHAPTER 2 APPROACBE8 TO LABOR IN THE TAIWAN MIRACLE... 25 Labor as Manpower: The Economistic Account on Taiwan's Labo~•• e _ 25 Labor as Wcmanpower: Female Factory Workers in Taiwan•• 29 Labor in Petty Production: ManUfacturing Bosses and Consent. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 33 State and the.corpo~atist System of Labor Control... 38 SummaryNotes...............................................and D1Scuss10n.............................. 4845 CHAPTER 3 PROLETARIANIZATION IN TAIWAN--AN OVERVIEW... 50 Sectoral Transformation of the Labor Force.......... 52 Proletarianization in Taiwan: Extent and Pace•••••••••• 57 Demographic a~d soc~al Characteristics of Wage Workers. 66 Summary and D1Scuss1on••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 77 Notes •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 81 CHAPTER 4 GENDER AND PROLETARIANIZATION PATTERN ••••••• 84 Women and Self Employment•••••••••••• 88 Women and unpaid Family Workers•••.•• 92 Women and Wage Employment•••••••••••• 96 Women and Mobility opportunities..... • •••.••• 104 Summary and Discussion•••.•••••••••••••••••••••••.•••• 107 Notes••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 110 CHAPTER 5 COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE WORKING CLASS 112 In Search of the Working Class(es).................. 114 st~cture and Composition of the Working Class in Ta1wan., •••••••••••• a •••••••••••••••• •••••••• 126 Summary and Discussion.•••••••.•••• 139 ~ Ol:es ••••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••• " •••• 147 ix CHAPTER 6 WORKERS IN THE DISTRIBUTION PROCESS •.•••••• 149 Wage Behavior in Postwar Taiwan•••••••••••••••••••• 151 Wage structure among the Wage and Salary Workers••• 158 Income Distribution••••••••••• 165 Summary and Discussion•• 173 Notes.••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••• 176 CHAPTER 7 UNIONIZATION AND LABOR HOVEMEHT •••••••••••• 178 The Growth of Labor Unions--A Quantitative Survey•• 179 Labor Movement and the KMT-State••• 187 Labor Awakens •••••••••• 195 Summary and Discussion••••••••• 204 Notes•.••••.•.•••. 0 ••••••••• 206 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUDING REHARU •• 208 Summarizing the Past•••••••• 208 Contemplating the Future•••• 215 Notes....••.•.•••.••.••••••. 221 APPENDIX A TABLES •• • ••••• 0 D •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 222 APPENDIX B FIGURES. · . 272 REFERENCES •••••..•• · . 282 x L:IST OJ!' TABLES Table page 3.1 Sectoral Distribution of Employed population, 1956- 1990 .....•.•..•..•.••..........••............•.....222 3.2 Farm and Nonfarm Households Income Differentiation and Income Sources of Farm Households, 1964-1990••••••• 223 3.3 Employment Structure in the Labor Force, 1956-1990 · 224 3.4 The Number and Percentage of Wage Workers within Each Sector, 1956-1990•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 225 3.5 Percentage of Income Derived from Wage Employment in Farm and Nonfarm Households, 1975-1990••••••••••••• 226 3.6 Female Labor Force Participation and Labor