Living rooms as factories: class, gender, and the satellite factory system in Taiwan

378 Pages·1996·0.89 MB·English

by  Ping-Chun Hsiung

Living Rooms As Factories : Class, Gender,
title: and the Satellite Factory System in Taiwan
= [Kò Tìng Chi Kung Chàng]
author: Hsiung, Ping-Chun.
publisher: Temple University Press
isbn10 | asin: 1566393892
print isbn13: 9781566393898
ebook isbn13: 9780585365114
language: English
Home labor--Taiwan, Women--
subject Employment--Taiwan, Working class--
Taiwan.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HD2336.T28H75 1996eb
ddc: 331.4/25
Home labor--Taiwan, Women--
subject: Employment--Taiwan, Working class--
Taiwan.
Page iii
Living Rooms As Factories
Class, Gender, and the Satellite Factory System in Taiwan
Ping-Chun Hsiung
Page iv
Disclaimer:
Some images in the original version of this book are not available for
inclusion in the netLibrary eBook.
Temple University Press, Philadelphia 19122
Copyright © 1996 by Ping-Chun Hsiung
All rights reserved
Published 1996
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984
Text design by Eliz. Anne O'Donnell
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hsiung, Ping-Chun, 1954
Living rooms as factories : class, gender, and the satellite factory
system in Taiwan = [K'o t'ing chi kung ch'ang] / Ping-Chun
Hsiung.
p. cm.
Parallel title in Chinese characters.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56639-389-2 (cloth : alk. paper). ISBN 1-56639-390-6
(paper : alk. paper)
1. Home laborTaiwan. 2. WomenEmploymentTaiwan.
3. Working classTaiwan. I. Title
HD2336.T28H75 1996
31.4'25dc20 95-42430
Page v
For my parents
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 23
Taiwan's Economic Miracle
2 47
"Living Rooms As Factories": Women, the State, and
Taiwan's Economic Development
3 65
The Satellite Factory System from Within
4 89
Women, Marriage, and Family in the Satellite Factory
System
5 111
The Everyday Construction of an Economic Miracle:
Labor Control On the Shop Floor
6 129
Are Women Really "Petty Minded"? Awareness,
Compliance, and Resistance in the Workplace
Conclusion 145
Notes 155
References 161
Index 173
Page ix
Acknowledgments
This is a personal journey based on collective support. My intellectual
debts go to my teachers at UCLA: Drs. Lucie Cheng, Ruth Milkman,
Francesca Bray, and Karen B. Sacks. As the manuscript was reviewed,
I received critical and generous feedback from a number of reviewers.
Even though I have not incorporated all their responses, their
comments and questions helped me to clarify my thinking and
strengthen my arguments. Joan Campbell's editorial assistance and
insights have improved the presentation of this book tremendously.
I thank my parents who value education more than anything else.
Defying a precarious financial situation, and at great personal
sacrifice, they put five of us through higher education. I am indebted
to my father who treasures his daughters as much as his sons, and to
my mother who believes there is no way that her daughters are
inferior to anyone's sons. This is a work in memory of my mother-in-
law, Hui-Ying J. Ho. My relationship with her helped me to
understand better how Chinese women deal with the suffering, pain,
and powerlessness inflicted on them by their society.
This research would have been impossible if I had not received help
from all the owners and workers I met in the factories. I appreciated
the chance to work with them. As to the married women, I thank them
for sharing their lives with me. I learned a great deal from the way
they handle hardships and manage to enjoy life.
Support and friendship from Raymond Sirgist, Michael Hui, and most
recently Cynthia McLean have been extremely valuable to my own
thinking and practices of Taoism and Wuwei amid some most trying
times. They are the treasure of my life. Special thanks go to my
husband, Yu-Nan Ho, whose relaxed style and sense of humor have
made it possible for his partner to complete a dream of her own.