| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
Of perhaps greatest significance was the need to incorporate in 1949 some 1.6 million mainlanders—mostly members of the defeated Nationalist army—into a population of only 6 million living on an island no bigger than the U.S. states of Maryland and Delaware combined (Li, 1994). Very few of these newcomers, who were escaping communist rule on the mainland, spoke any Taiwanese, adding to the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. Eventually, an uneasy coexistence emerged and was rigidly maintained by an authoritarian government.
Despite this inauspicious beginning, a series of carefully devised economic reforms were initiated beginning in the 1950s that led over a period of 4 decades to the most rapid and remarkable economic and social development of any country that has embarked on industrialization (T. B. Gold, 1986). By the late 1980s, just prior to the period of data collection for this study, Taiwan was on the threshold of joining the core countries of the world as measured by the usual indices of social and economic success. We discuss some of these major trends in the section on demography that follows.
For those interested in aging, Taiwan presents a particularly interesting case study. How has all of this affected the role and treatment of older people? Are the traditional values of filial piety and esteem for the older generation still maintained despite the very social changes thought to have resulted in the disparaging and marginalization of the aged through much of the early industrial period in the West? Which are the more powerful: the structural changes brought about by a rapidly growing, globally oriented economy2 or the cultural commitment to family values still present in the interpersonal world of everyday life? The data presented here are an attempt to find some answers to these broader questions.
Theoretical Considerations
The theoretical perspective that informs this project is eclectic. It proceeds from both social-exchange theory, with its emphasis on the constraints and opportunities inherent in structures, and social constructionism, which gives priority, among other concerns, to value and belief systems that distinguish cultures from one another. A more detailed examination of these theories is presented in chapter 2.