8 - 10 MAY 2000
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Brokers of Capital and Knowledge
The scientific objectives of this workshop were closely related to the theme of the WOTRO-funded multidisciplinary research programme 'Brokers of Capital and Knowledge: Producer services and social mobility in provincial Asia, 1960-2000'. In the spirit of this research programme, the workshop generated a debate on the ways in which processes of global economic restructuring affect social mobility in Asian provincial cities. The combination of disciplines, of contemporary and historical research, of in-depth and contextualizing theoretical studies, and of inter-regional comparisons enhanced the participants' understanding of both processes of social mobility in modern Asia and the debate on producer services.
By HEIDI DAHLES
Asia's economic boom of the last decades is .reshaping Asian societies. In unprecedented ways, global economic integration, widening communication networks, and government policies supportive of private enterprise are changing opportunities for accumulating wealth, status, and power, and redefine the avenues of social mobility. This process is accompanied by the development, throughout provincial Asia, of highly sophisticated producer services enterprises (such as banking, insurance, accountancy, consultancy, law firms, and business schools) which provide access to resources required for a profitable connection to the wider world. Much of the discussion on this 'affluent Asia' is dominated by political scientists and economists who trace changes in the distribution of capital and power on the national level, and by anthropologists who study local effects of entrepreneurial and technological change.The workshop focused on the key role played by these producer services in channelling the widening access of provincial societies to markets, capital, and commercial knowledge, and thus in shaping new business arenas and new patterns of social mobility. Geographically, the emphasis was on urban areas in Asia in general and on Asian provincial cities that are centres of commercial and industrial expansion in particular.
Specifically the workshop
addressed:
1. The central role of the producer services enterprises as brokers of capital, knowledge, and commercial connections, which may contribute in vital ways to the rise of new entrepreneurial categories or the demise of existing ones, or both;
2. Opportunities for social mobility within the expanding services sector itself, which may contribute to the development of new professional classes in provincial societies.
Assessing the role of the producer services as gate-keepers governing access to fundamental resources such as land, capital, labour, and knowledge demands an understanding of the manifold institutions and networks active in Asian cities under various political and economic regimes. It is within this context that the social impact of (apparently) new opportunities must be placed. Knowledge, like the more tangible bases of production, must also be seen as a scarce resource, the control of which can generate both power and wealth.
Access to such knowledge is influenced by existing power structures, but its successful use also depends on the capacity for fast and flexible response to changing circumstances. Access to these resources is fundamental in deciding 'who gets what', but increasingly international markets impose new disciplines and reward new skills.
The major points of discussion are briefly listed below:
1. The concept of 'producer services' is at the basis of the research programme. For the time being we settled for a working definition: 'Producer services are those services invested into businesses as distinct from services consumed by end-consumers'. Producer services are, however, not necessarily involved in brokerage and, vice versa, brokers are not necessarily 'business services'. The result of this debate is that the research group has to carefully reconsider definitions of producer services, business services, advanced producer services, brokers and brokerage, and entrepreneurship.
2. Related to the provincial focus of the programme, the question was raised whether there are still any provincial brokers left in this globalizing world. It seems that in contemporary Asia processes of institutionalization and democratization have diminished the role of gatekeepers. Some participants made the point that provinces are left without power and funds, and therefore lose power to the central level. Other participants pointed out that centralization creates power niches for gatekîeepers. Instead of imagining brokers as autonomous, new people, it is more likely that in Asia we are dealing with members of established elites defending their positions. In this discussion the old/new dichotomy remained unresolved. Related to this was the issue whether brokers can be regarded as entrepreneurs.
3. Related to the old/new dichotomy was the debate about the regional focus. To study social mobility in Asia, a more fertile ground would be the provincial or the metropolitan arena. Generally speaking, those who believe that the role of intermediary is most probably taken by newly emerging elites tend to shift their attention to the metropoles where 'exciting' transformations seem to happen. Those who believe that old power holders maintain their positions are more inclined to focus on provincial cities as the power bases of the old elites.
4. Another central concept in the research programme is the concept of 'middle classes'. As became clear in the discussion, this concept is closely intertwined with notions of dynamism, transformation, and innovation. The issue was raised that 'middle classes' in Asia do not necessarily generate or propagate change, but may as yet attempt to consolidate established positions and power relations. 'New' groups aspiring to the status of 'middle class' may be more reluctant to change once they have reached this status than the ruling classes. Therefore, the projects in the programme require a thorough analysis of the concept of 'middle classes' in their situational context.
5. The aspect of gender is as yet neglected in the research programme. The issue that should be raised is to what extent social mobility generated by economic restructuring is not only class related but also gender-related mobility. At a more general level the question should be raised how economic restructuring affects established gender relations.
6. An important issue raised in many contributions was the role of the state. First of all, the state as actor deserves more attention in the research programme. As was shown in the papers, the state strongly affects the ways in which economic restructuring impacts upon social mobility. 'Strong' or 'weak' states, centralized or fragmented state power, create different conditions for new elites to emerge and prosper or old elites to maintain or even strengthen their position. Therefore, concepts like 'state formation' and 'power relations' should be among the central analytical concepts of the research programme.
Follow-up
A selection of papers presented at the workshop will be published either in an edited volume or in academic journals. The brokers research group is planning a major conference in 2003 to present the results of the different projects of the research programme and to invite critical comments of knowledgeable colleagues working in adjacent fields. The research group intend to invite the scholars who attended the ESF workshop again to discuss the progress of the programme and reconsider major points of discussion that were raised in the workshop. *
The workshop was funded by the ESF Asia Committee and WOTRO.
Dr Heidi Dahles is Assistant Professor at the Department of Culture, Organization, and Management, Free University of Amsterdam.
E-mail: h.dahles@scw.vu.nl