多维社会资本交融与近代女性公益组织的生发——以清末广州“公益女学堂”为例

与既往对晚清公益的研讨多限于男性组织的研究不同,本文选择广州“ 公益女学堂”作为个案,发现当时投身公益的晚清女性,绝大多数出自绅商阶层。正是基于地缘、学缘和阶层等交往形成的关系型社会资本和基于同道中人的理解、欣赏和信任而产生的认知型社会资本,在同一群亲友型志士群体中深度交融,为当时不被主流社会所容的有志女性生产出一个相对自由包容的“平行世界” ———既是女性公益事业生发之初最现成的组织依托,又是其存续和发展最关键的抗风险系统。本文遂提出多维社会资本交融的观点,来解释中国女性近代公益组织的生发机制。事实上,这样一种集多层次社会资本为一体的亲友型志士网络广泛存在于近代中国变革的肌理之中,尚有待于未来更多深化和拓展。

Multi-dimensional Social Capital Integration and the Genesis of Modern FemalePhilanthropic Organizations: A Case Study on the Cantonese “Gong-yi Female School”in the Late Qing Dynasty

Unlike previous studies on modern philanthropy in the late Qing Dynasty, which were mostly limited to male organizations, this paper selects the Cantonese “Gong-yi (Public Charity) Female School” as a case study. It is found that the vast majority of women devoted themselves to public welfare at that time were born from the gentry class. The relational social capital based on kinship, academic ties and social class and the cognitive social capital based on understanding, appreciation and trust were deeply integrated into the same group of kindred people. This produced a relatively free and inclusive “parallel world” for the aspiring women, who were not accepted by the mainstream society at that time—not only the most ready-made organizational support for them at the beginning, but also the most critical anti-risk system for its survival and further development. This article then puts forward the viewpoint of multi-dimensional social capital integration to explain the genesis mechanism of modern Chinese women's public charity organizations. In fact, such a network of relatives and friends integrating multi-dimensional social capital widely existed in the texture of modern China's reform, an area which needs to be deepened and expanded by further empirical studies in the future.