Taiwan’s Middle Class Organization and the Influences on Class Culture-making: A Case Study of Taipei City Rotary Clubs
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Hsiao, Ya-Tan
Abstract
Using the Taipei City Rotary Clubs as case study object, this dissertation aims to provide a better understanding of Taiwan middle class elites’ associational life experiences and the influences on class culture making. The research starts with the analyses of the organized principle of the Rotary International and the development process in Taiwan, and typed the District 3480 of Rotary International. The research shows that one important mission of Rotary Club is the fraternity of the middle classes to help each other, however there are internal conflict within different Rotary Club. By differentiating individual Rotary Club with ethnic or gender background, the middle classes successfully use the distinction strategy to propagate and respond to the changes of society. Entering into the field of the Rotary Club, the middle classes can foster the sense of honor that seeks for success. This sense of honor comes from being selected to invite to be a Rotarian, holding regular meetings in fancy restaurants or places, as well as the external image of the moral community and so on. By participating in the Rotary Club, the middle classes can engender and maintain the class legitimacy in Taiwan. By absolutely enforcing “the Four Avenues of Service”, breeding the next generation, and the collective actions that link political organizations, the middle classes can strengthen its class legitimacy. The dissertation concludes that the middle classes accumulate their social capital by participating in mass organizations and then presents cohesion and consolidation of the middle classes at the collective level. The study of the Rotary Club is not only helpful in understanding why and how the middle classes participate in the mass organization activities, but gain a better understanding about the culture formation of the middle classes and the localized phenomenon of the International Non-Governmental Organizations.
Subjects
middle classes
Rotary Club
social capital
Non-Governmental Organizations
associational life
Type
thesis
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