コメント1 東南アジアにおける労働移動 (世界資本主義とアジアの移民 : 一九世紀後半から二十世紀初頭)

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In the period between the middle of the nineteenth century and the First World War, there were large-scale internal and international migrations in Southeast Asia. Among the international migrations, streams from China to various parts of Southeast Asia and those from India to Burma and the Straits Settlements were most important. In this comment, some description and analysis will be made mainly on the Chinese migrants to Siam, in response to the questions posed by the keynote speaker of the session. Total Size of Gross Migration from China to Southeast Asia In this period most of the Chinese migrants were sojourners, staying in Southeast Asia for a limited time before thety could go home with substantial savings. This fact makes the estimation of net migration rather misleading and that of gross migration quite diffrcult. Skinner's classic estimate of gross migration of the Chinese to Siam between 1824 and 1917 was about two million. The number of the overseas Chinese in the 1970's was, according to a Taiwanese source, 4.2 million in Thailand and 16.6 million in the entire Southeast Asia. If the ratio of migrants to the 1970's population can be assumed similar in various countries, gross migration from China to Southeast Asia before the First World War turns out to be about 8 billion a figure probably smaller than the actual number. The Push-Factor and the Pull-Factor There were some Chinese who substituted for slaves in the first half of the nineteenth century in Central and South Amelica, but their number was limited. Most of the Chinese migrants who went to Southeast Asia were more or less free labour except in the earry years. Particularly, in the case of Siam, the status of Chinese immigrants was high. There was strong demand for male unskilled labour in mines, constuction, services and trade. Consequently, wages in Bangkok were three times as high as in Japan and probably highest in Asia toward the end of the nineteenth century. The royal encouragement of Chinese immi-gration was another pull-factor. The push-factor was the difticulty of ife in South China. Unlike in European countries where the strength of the push-factor rose and fell according to the stages of economic development, there is no evidence, in the case of the Chinese migration, to show that the secular rise and fall of the push-factor were responsible for the swings of the migration. The migration swelled continuouely until the 1930's When the pull-factor was suddenly weakened due to the Depression. World Capitalism and Siamese Economic DeveloPment There is little doubt that Siamese economy was drawn into the network of the world capitalism by the free trade of the nineteenth century and that the Chinese immigrants were drawn by the forces working in the course of development of such capitalism. The Siam economy more ftnd more specialized in the production and export of rice which supported the producers of rubber, spices, tea, tin, sugar and other tropical products in Asia. The Chinese migrants provided labour for the distribution of rice and for other rlated activities. Some Chinese in Siam were involved in the production and distribution of tin, rubber and sugar. In these cases, they were more directly involved in the formation of world capitalism, since these products were exported, to the center of world capitalism.
1981-12-20

コメント1 東南アジアにおける労働移動 (世界資本主義とアジアの移民 : 一九世紀後半から二十世紀初頭)

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