Class or Identity Matters? The Social Assimilation of Taiwanese Sojourners in China

Abstract

Most scholarly works on the effects of growing cross-Strait economic relations stay at the macro-level, and few have touched upon interpersonal contacts and attitude changes at the micro-level. Yet it would be difficult to predict or make sense of incremental changes at the macro-level without referring to developments at the micro-level. The aim of this paper is to examine whether the Taiwanese living in the mainland have been assimilated into the local society after years of interactions with local people. If so, what factors have caused these changes, and what implications do they have for future cross-Strait relations? This article reports and discusses the results of a survey project about the social and political attitude of Taiwanese living in the mainland. In this survey project, we interviewed more than 200 Taiwanese living in the Greater Shanghai region and Dongguan region in the summer of 2009. In this most extensive survey so far in the mainland, we find that 'class' and 'identity' are the two most important factors affecting the Taiwanese's assimilation into the local society, with the former explaining how they mingle with the local people and the latter shaping the degree of their relationships and psychological acceptance of the local society. 涉及兩岸未來走向的問題，學界多從結構層面探討，甚少觸及個人的態度立場。有鑑於此，本文乃以長居大陸的全灣人士為研究對象，觀察他們在歷經長期的社會接觸後，能否逐步融入當地社會？過程中又是何種因素導致融入上的差異？本研究的經驗資料，來自作者2009年在大上海與東莞周邊地區，藉訪談與問卷調查所得，訪談對象共214人，為歷來調查規模最大且最具系統者。研究發現，「社會階級」與「身分認同」對臺人的當地融入影響顯著，其中，前者主要影響臺人生活層面的融入，而後者則對深層的社會交往和心理層面具有顯著影響。