日據臺灣農村之商品化與小農經濟之形成

THE COMMODIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND THE FORMATION OF FAMILY FARMING AGRICULTURE IN COLONIAL TAIWAN (1895-1945)

隨著外銷農產品生產的擴展與出口的增長，日據下的台灣逐漸被納入日本資本主義經濟體系內。這個吸納（incorporation）的過程是分解與保存一併發生的一個過程。土者的農村社會經濟體系在這個既分解又保存（dissolution/conservation）的過程中基本上仍得以保留其原本的生產方式，而在經過商品化的改造後，被整合入資本主義經濟裏。具體的說，這個吸納的過程表現在農業商品化的過程上，但商品化卻沒有進展到把農村的勞動力也轉變為可供售賣的商品（即普羅化proletarianization）這個地步。家庭耕作式（family farming）的生產方式被保存了下來而與資本主義生產模式之間產生聯屬的關係（articulation）。本文強調殖民初期統治者與土著之間的互動基本上鞏固了既存的小農經濟。在這個基礎上，資本主義雇工生產方式對農業生產過程的入侵受到限制。雖然商品化為日資農企業（agro-industry）之支配權創造了先決條件，但它卻並未使勞資生產關係擴展到農業生產內——這是英國農業進入資本主義的直接途徑。日本私人資本避開了難纏的農業生產，偏好透過市場控制及垂直集中的方式剝削農民。在重稅、龐大的公共投資（尤其是水利）、政府監督、以及資本嚴密的控制下，農民生產者被迫去採用新式的生產方法以提高生產力來應付日增的生活支出和償還債務。在這種情形下，小家庭農場其實並非前資本主義的殘餘，而是現代資本主義予以再造並聯屬（articulate）的一種新型式。不管怎麼說，這種型式絕非古典理論所理解的農民或“資本主義農業”。它物毋寧是“沒有資本家的資本主義農業”。

Along with the growth of export production of agricultural commodities, Taiwan (1895-1945) was incorporated into Japan's capitalist economy. This incorporation was accomplished through a process of conservation and dissolution of indigenous socioeconomic systems. In general, the incorporation designated the commodification of agricultural products, rendering the peasant a professional agriculturalist. The peasant was forced to convert production for subsistence to production for the market and was alienated from industrial activities such as preliminary food processing, ets., which formerly constituted an essential part of family income. The commodification of agriculture in colonial Taiwan created a precondition for the dominance of Japanese agro-industry based on commercial monopoly. But, it did not lead to the expansion of capitalist relations of production in the countryside — the English direct path to capitalism, according to Marx. In the beginning stage of colonial rule, Japanese private capital, in the face of tenacious resistance of indigenous family farms, tended to shun agricultural production, preferring to exploit peasant producers in the sphere of circulation by means of market control. Nevertheless, supported by the state, a modern family farming agriculture was created in order to facilitate capital accumulation by the Japanese. Through public investment, particularly in the construction of an irrigation system, the state acted as the main investor, transferring a large amount of its tax revenues to build up the agricultural infrastructure. Under conditions such as heavy taxation, public investments and state supervision, and the strict control of capital, the agricultural producer was constantly forced to modernize his production and increase his productivity, in order to cover expenses and to meet debts. Small family farming in this context did not constitute a pre-capitalist residual, but a form recreated by modern capitalism that was articulated with it. However, this form was not capitalistin the classic sense, but rather 'capitalism without capitalists.'A set of conditions created by the state, as mentioned before, reinforced this trend and in the long run inhibited the penetration of the capitalist mode of production into the countryside.