棒球作為「原�圓夢階梯」：教育體制、文化創生與社會階序繁衍

Abstract

「為什麼原住民會趨之若鶩追求職棒這種看似外表光鮮實則生涯短暫的工作」？本文剖析既有的研究解釋，釐清原住民打棒球的歷史脈絡、社會根源和文化意義。由於學校組訓和部落文化共同促成原住民棒球的發展，本文主張從教育體制和文化創生的視野切入，探究棒球何以成為原住民的圓夢階梯，又造成什麼樣的社會階序繁衍後果。 本文的研究意涵是：一、解答高比例原住民職棒球員的社會謎題。二、指出教育分流體系的部署如何影響行動者的升學和謀職去向。三、闡明教育選擇和謀職就業之間的鏈結關鍵。四、解釋社會結構的運作原則和社會不平等的存續機制。 本研究針對原住民棒球隊進行民族誌，輔以多元的資料蒐集方式。首先，考察台東棒球發展的歷史脈絡。其次，梳理教育體制的內涵、紅土工廠的訓練歷程、文化創生的運作機制、以及棒球作為社會流動媒介所產生的社會效應。 研究發現是：第一，教育體制中的兩極作用力促使原住民球員擁抱競技績效主義：在課堂中，競技至上論成為貶抑智識文化的「轉位動能」；在球場上，優勝劣敗法則強化了圓夢階梯的「確認力量」。教學和訓練流程的「評核」、比賽過程和升學結果的「汰選」、升學管道和謀職機會的「分派」，三者構成運動升遷機會結構的篩選關卡。第二，訓練流程和比賽場域的運動儀式成為原住民文化的展演平台。年齡階級組織與學長制在階序實作具備文化親近性。既有的文化元素為原住民球員供給投入棒球運動的親和性，棒球文化更使其再社會化階序式的互動邏輯和生存法則。第三，原住民球員歷經教育體制的轉轍器效果，呈現出分殊化的社會流動樣貌—「邁向專業化之路」、「受限的替代出路」。 本研究的貢獻是：一、解開教育場域和勞動市場之間的鏈結歷程。教育體制是催化階序意識和公平競爭原則的溫床。分流教育的晉升路徑和汰弱留強的篩選結構，局限原住民球員的升學管道和謀職選擇，使其落入雙重束縛中—「狹隘化的升學路徑」、「風險化的職棒勞動體制」。二、勾繪出紅土球場成為原住民文化創生的當代舞台。年長制的階序文化，在當代社會體現出一種文化的延續性。地域性的打球文化影響原住民部落與家族孩童對打球的社會評價和認知態度，並產生代間傳遞或部落發展的效應。三、指出社會階序體系作為訓練和勞役分工的基準。學長制與球技論決定分工的差異和不平等，階序和互補並存其中。原住民打棒球造成教育選擇和謀職的族群類聚趨勢和社會堆疊效果，更建構出一條原住民彼此競爭有限空缺的存活淘汰鏈。 本研究的理論意涵是：第一，社會不平等既被制度安排所維繫，又被行動者視為機會而謀求。原住民追求職棒工作造成的效果是：一、提升從事體力工作的身體能力。二、運動社會化歷程模塑出球員的主觀理解、心態準備和自我說服，使其不抗拒階序性和服從性的職業範疇，球員主觀肯認的參與維繫了社會分工秩序。三、球場的競爭淘汰歷程，使球員內化「功績主義」和「社會達爾文主義」的文化意識形態。成功案例塑造社會流動的假象，對敗退者更發揮社會控制的力量，提供社會不平等現狀的解釋正當性和心理機轉。第二，社會世界是由多重階序和「社會人」所構成的實在。打棒球不是一種理性計算的經濟行為，而是一種社會行動。職棒圓夢的翻身印象背後，奠基於歷史脈絡的路徑依存，提供原住民棒球知識傳承的教練人才、社會網絡和部落社交。而社會流動機會更被綁縛在教育和訓練體制所形塑的階序意識、運動升遷的空缺鏈和短暫職涯的風險中。立基於公平競爭原則，原住民透過打棒球追求有限的圓夢果實，以打破社會生存機會的不平等，但卻打造出社會分工的族群化差異，繁衍了社會結構的族群階序分布。

Why do the indigenous peoples aspire to become professional baseball players--a career that is glamorous, but short? This paper analyzes available research to clarify the historical context, social origin, and cultural implication of indigenous peoples in professional baseball. Because school training and tribal culture together facilitate the development of indigenous peoples in baseball, this paper proposes to start from the educational regime and cultural production viewpoints, and explore how baseball came to become the ladder to dream fulfillment for indigenous peoples, as well as the consequences from the reproduction of social hierarchies. The implications of this research are: (1) to solve the puzzling social phenomenon regarding the high percentage of indigenous players in professional baseball; (2) to reveal how the distribution result of the education tracking system influences the decisions of actors on their education and career pursuits; (3) to clarify the key links between educational choices and career pursuits; and (4) to explain the operating principles of social structures and the persisting mechanisms of existing social inequality. This research focuses on the basis of ethnography targeting Taiwanese indigenous baseball teams and collects supporting data based on various perspectives. First, this research explores the historical context of baseball development in Taitung. Second, this research categorizes and analyzes the implications of the educational regime, the training processes of the 'factory' on the baseball diamond, the operational mechanisms of cultural production, and social effects of baseball as a medium for social mobility. There are three findings in this research. (1) The indigenous peoples are urged to embrace the meritocracy of physical competition by two extreme influences in the educational regime: in the classroom, the emphasis on physical competition as top priority is a dislocation of the importance of intellectual and cultural knowledge; on the ball field, the principle of “survival of the fittest” strengthens the conviction and confirmation that ball-playing is a means toward achieving a dream future. The structure of promotion opportunities in sports is constituted of three filtering criteria: the evaluation on the education and training process, the elimination process from the competition in ball-playing and from the pursuit of higher education, and eventual distributions resulting from higher education and career opportunities. (2) The training process and athletic rituals on the baseball diamond became a representative arena for the indigenous culture. The age grade within indigenous culture and the seniority system within baseball culture have hierarchical practices of cultural affinity. Therefore, the existing cultural components in traditional indigenous culture provide affinity to the indigenous baseball players committing themselves to the sport, while the baseball culture further resocializes the hierarchical structure of interactional logic and survival principles. (3) The indigenous ball players experience the switch effect of the educational regime and show characteristics of social mobility differentiation – pursuing the professional baseball career, but with limited alternative opportunities. The contributions of this research are: (1) The uncovering of the link between the educational field and the labor market. The educational regime provides the fundamental mediums for hierarchical consciousness and fair competition principles. The promotional paths and the “survival of the fittest” situation inherent in the education tracking system limits the options of indigenous baseball players to pursue higher education and career choices; thus, indigenous baseball players are trapped by dual shackles, which are constricted channels of educational opportunities and the high-risk system of professional baseball. (2) The portrayal of the 'factory' on the baseball diamond as a representative arena for the cultural production of the indigenous peoples. The hierarchy of seniority embodies a cultural continuity in today’s society. The regional ball-playing culture influences the social evaluations and perception attitudes of indigenous tribes and its children, which results in effects on the transition from generation to generation or the development of baseball tribes. (3) Pointing out the social hierarchy system as the decisive factor for training and labor distribution. The seniority system and the ball-playing craftsmanship determine the differences and create the unfairness in the labor distribution; the hierarchical and complementary relationships coexist with each other. Playing baseball creates an occupational homogeneity of ethnic trend and social stacking effects amongst indigenous peoples in regard to their educational choices and occupational attainment, and becomes a vacancy chain of survival or elimination method for indigenous peoples as they compete with each other for limited opportunities.

The theoretical implications of this research are: (1) Social inequality is not only maintained by the arrangements of the system, but is also considered an opportunity that is sought by actors. The effects of the indigenous people’ pursuit of playing professional baseball are: (a) the improvement of their physical ability for labor-intense work; (b) the molding of the players’ subjective understandings, mental preparations, and self persuasion by the sport’s socialization process, so that the players will not resist the hierarchical and obeying or subservient features of the occupational categories; the players’ voluntary participation maintains the order in social divisions of labor; (c) the realization and internalization by players of the cultural ideologies of meritocracy and the social Darwinism by competing via the course of playing baseball. The successful cases represent the false illusions of the social mobility, while enhancing social control on the unsuccessful and providing them with the justification and mental transformation of the idea of social inequality. (2) Society is a reality that is composed of multiple hierarchies and social beings. Playing baseball is not a sensible economical behavior, but a type of social action. Beneath the surface impression of playing professional baseball as the path to achieving a dream future, the social foundation is based on the path dependency of historical conjunctures, the provisions of knowledgeable coaches, social networks and tribal social interactions. Moreover, social mobility is limited by the hierarchical consciousness resulting from educational regime and training processes, the vacancy chain in the advancement opportunities in the sport, and the risk of a short-period professional career. Based on the principle of fair competition, the indigenous peoples pursue limited dream opportunities by playing baseball in order to eliminate social inequality; however, this kind of sport practice produces ethnic differences in social divisions of labor, and reproduces the distribution of ethnic hierarchies in the social structure.