| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立交通大學 === 客家文化學院客家社會與文化學程 === 107 === Under the industrialization policy, the division of labor and specialization of professions in Taiwanese workforce have been quite different from the traditional society culturally. Leaving countryside, abandoning farming, and moving to the cities were common scenes for many Hakka people at the time as the consequence of Taiwanese industrialization. This paper discusses how the Hakka people participated and experienced the process of industrialization and privatization of industry as bus drivers from the 1970s to 2000s. On one hand, the paper explores the survival strategies and agency of these Hakka Taiwan Motor Transport (TMT) drivers through the interrelation between structure and actions. On the other hand, the paper discusses beliefs, values, and emotions formed under Hakka men’s strategies to comprehend their definition and formation on “how they serve as men”, “how they make a living”, and “how they define a family”.
This paper uses the life history method to deconstruct and analyze the life course of Hakka TMT drivers. Comprehensive interviews are conducted as part of the research method to gather individuals’ experiences and stories. By discussing individual’s life history in relation to the broad general history and trying to reconstruct the lifestyle of the TMT drivers at the time, we are able to understand how an individual is influenced by the time and space to innovate his own living strategies.
Under the practice of industrialization, "ethnicity" and "gender" gradually emerged from the life course of these interviewees. From these Taiwanese Hakka drivers’ life stories, the structural forces seem to take the people away from their hometown and mother-land, yet the traditional culture is still firmly attached to these Hakka men. In the course of job hunting, resignation, and transfer, "Hakka" not only acts as the social capital men rely on in the social network but also forms the source of Hakka men’s values and emotions.
In terms of gender, these TMT Hakka drivers’ comprehension and actions on "work", "family" and "emotion" provide us with a new understanding of Hakka men. The new conception revises the traditional image of Hakka men—usually detached from the families—and contributes to new research results in discussing Hakka men as workers and their role in the workforce.
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