| Abstract: | 高等教育可產生「位置性商品 (positional goods)」（Hirsch,1976）,藉以取得社會優勢及更多經濟資源，因此是文化資本中一個不可或缺的元素。現今文獻也指出了海外獲取之文化資本的優勢價值增加了社會向上流動的機會。然而，我們不應將對文化資本評估中地域差異性的理解局限於在地/國外或亞洲/歐美形式的二分法上。事實上，基於文化資本評估機制運作的地理性及文化資本評價機制的社會鑲嵌性，文化資本及經濟資本之間的轉換率和轉換形式會隨著時間及空間的不同而有所變更(Waters, 2008)。為了豐富文化資本的概念，我們有必要闡釋文化資本的地理性及其跨國轉換性，以及文化資本的兌換如何受其他形式資本的型塑。本研究將以馬來西亞留台人及馬來西亞台商企業作為個案，旨在調查跨國經濟資本流動影響文化資本跨國轉換的程度與方式與如何型塑海外畢業生在母國社會流動的機會，以及這個過程又會以何種方式鑲嵌於在地的社會關係。具體來說，本研究將探討大馬留台生所獲取的跨國文化資本估價及交換如何被馬來西亞台商企業跨國投資的波動所影響，以及馬來西亞台商企業的跨國投資及運作和大馬留台人所具有之跨國文化資本間的關連性。本研究預計執行時間為兩年，將在馬來西亞進行兩階段的田野調查，其中包括深度訪談、參與觀察、以及實物資料蒐集方法。田野調查將會進行共四十四個訪談，訪談對象包括16 個大馬台商企業的經理或業主，以及28 個曾經或正在在大馬台商企業工作的大馬留台人。田野調查地點設在雪蘭莪、吉隆坡和檳城。本研究將恪守研究倫理並經由分析資料發展出紮根理論。本研究除了將在文化資本、人力資本、社會流動、社會網絡、國際遷移及東南亞研究領域方面做出顯著的理論及實證貢獻，同時也將為台灣及馬來西亞帶來重要的政策意涵。
Higher education produces “positional goods” (Hirsch, 1976) that provide access to social prestige and greater economic resources, thus is an essential element in cultural capital. It is also indicated in current literature the privilege of cultural capital acquired overseas enhances the chances in upward social mobility. Nevertheless, our understanding of the geographic variability in the appraisal of cultural capital ought not to be limited only on the local/foreign or Asian/Euro-American dichotomous scale. In fact, due to the geographies of cultural capital and the social embeddedness in the appraisal mechanism of cultural capital, the conversion rates and patterns between cultural capital and economic capital vary spatially and over time (Waters, 2008). To enrich the concept of cultural capital, it is important to illuminate the geographies of cultural capital and its transnational transferability, and how the conversion of cultural capital is shaped by other forms of capital. By employing Taiwan-educated Malaysian Chinese graduates and the Taiwanese business firms in Malaysia as a case in study, the proposed study aims at investigating the extent of and the ways in which the flows of transnational economic capital influence the transnational transferability of cultural capital and subsequently shape the overseas graduates' opportunities of social mobility at home, and how this process might be embedded in the local context of social relations. Specifically, it looks into the ways in which the valuation and exchange of transnational cultural capital possessed by Taiwan-education Malaysian Chinese are affected by the fluctuation of transnational investment of Taiwanese businesses in Malaysia, and the extent that transnational investment and operation of Taiwanese firms in Malaysia are tied to the transnational cultural capital possessed Taiwan-educated Malaysian Chinese. This study is designed to be a two-year project. Two stages of fieldwork are planned to conduct fieldwork in Malaysia, including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and unobtrusive measures of data collection. Forty-four interviews will be conducted during the fieldwork, including 16 managers or owners of Taiwanese firms in Malaysia, and 28 Taiwan-educated Malaysian Chinese who work or worked in Taiwanese firms. Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang will be chosen as field sites for this research. This study will follow the guidelines of research ethics and develop a grounded theory from data analysis. The study will not only make significant theoretical and empirical contributions in the areas of cultural capital, human capital, social mobility, social networks, international migration, and Southeast Asian studies, but will also bear important policy reference to both Taiwan and Malaysia. |
