東石養蚵業的生產與勞動：商品交易下的邊陲地區

本篇論文企圖透過對東石養蚵業的研究，分析該產業與地區發展之關係，及養殖者的勞動生涯如何在其中持續。過去二十多年來，東石一直是台灣主要的牡蠣專業生產區，不論是歷史文化的傳承，個人生計的拓展，或是國家政策的規劃，牡蠣養殖似乎是此地的「必然」。但是，就華勒斯坦的世界體系論而言，此特定的產業型態，不正是現代國家內部區域分工的結果嗎？由核心─邊緣的相對觀點，華勒斯坦強調，區域間不平等的權力關係，構成資本主義商品鏈的循環，隨著資本累積所導致的兩極化發展，處於經濟生產活動邊緣位置─如東石者，其初級產業面臨的結構性困境，並非偶然。在理論層次，此種生產關係決定論代表邊緣地區無法突破的限制，然而，在歷史─社會變遷中，在勞動與交易漸進地構築東石養殖業的同時，養殖者如何演練自我與區域發展的弱勢延續？

關鍵字

東石養蚵業；勞動；交易；區域發展；權力關係

並列摘要

This paper attempts to study on the production and labor of oyster-cultivating industry in Tong-shin. The relation between this industry and regional developments will also be analyzed. For the past twenty years, Tong-Shin has been one of the most specialized oyster-cultivating regions in Taiwan. Historical tradition, individual livelihood and national policies seem to confirm such tendency. However, in view of Wallerstein’s theory, doesn’t it result from regional divisions of labor within modern nation-states? Contrasting ‘core’ to ‘periphery’, Wallerstein stresses the unequal power relations, which have articulated the commodity chain in capitalist world economy. As polarization goes on, at a periphery such as Tong-Shin, the primary industry unalterably runs into structural difficulties. In theory, the determinism of production relations represents the unbroken confines of peripheries. Bur, in historical and social transformation, when labor and transaction gradually construct this industry, how can the local cultivators engage to continue their work and regional developments?