中间人——东莞彝族工头及其社会功能

Intermediaries: The Yi Foremen and Their Social Functions in Dongguan

20世纪90年代晚期以来,大量彝族口逐步迁至东莞打工,在他们中形成了一些工头。这些工头作为"中间人"实现与当地非彝族群体互通与共处,并以此间接性融合的方式在当地扎根下来。工头在此间形成一定体系,发挥着劳务中介、族群文化交流媒介和劳务纠纷代言人三种具体的功能。工头作为"中间人"的功能是多元群体在移民社会重组过程中自发生成的彼此互通的重要方式,是该社会运行和发展的一种需要。然而,工头本身在此过程中又在固化、形塑和再造新的群体边界。

Whether cultural characters of multicultural groups of urban immigrants would be dissolved has been the focus of attention of researchers.Since the late 1990s,quite a few Yi people have come to work in Dongguan,of whom some have become foremen.These foremen as ＂intermediaries＂ have helped the interaction between the Yi people and other groups and played the roles of ＂labor agency＂,＂cultural intermediary among different ethnic groups＂ and ＂spokesmen for labor disputes＂ in the process of social interaction between the Yi people and other ethnic members.The paper concludes that the function of such foremen as ＂intermediaries＂ is produced in the restructuring process of the immigrant community,which is a spontaneous phenomenon and a need in their social development.However,these intermediaries will strengthen,shape and re-construct group boundaries in this process.