Social Class and Cosmopolitan Parenting in Taiwanese Families

Abstract

Cosmopolitanism, or “being international,” has become an ideal to which parents aspire for their children in East Asia. The objective of this article is to investigate the meaning of cosmopolitanism among Taiwanese middle- and working-class parents, and to examine how they incorporate cosmopolitanism into their child-rearing practices. Using data from the longitudinal family interviews of 30 families in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2008 and follow-up interviews in 2015, I find three distinct modes of cosmopolitan parenting. They are banal cosmopolitanism among the working class, which emphasizes the consumption of foreign products; pragmatic cosmopolitanism among the old middle class, which focuses on language skills and other competencies for interacting with foreigners; and dedicated cosmopolitanism among new professionals, which emphasizes in-depth understanding of other peoples and cultures. These results offer novel insights into the transmission of class advantage across generations and inform debates concerning the complex process of cultural globalization and local class structure in postindustrial societies.