This is the fourth episode in my series devoted to the Shanghai Rotary Club. This episode will examine the distribution of activities among Shanghai Rotarians. My analyses rely on a classification of activities derived from the original classification of services that the Rotary International drew in the 1920s – yet with slight adaptations.

The notion of service was central to the philosophy and practice of the Rotary Club all over the world. By 1930, the Rotary International established a standard classification of services. This universal list roughly overlapped with the structure of activities within contemporaries societies (professional fields, industrial and business sectors). Although in theory, all Rotary clubs throughout the world shared the same standard classification,  it could be accommodated to the local structure of activities and the local state of economic development. Not only did the standard list vary from one club to another, but it also evolved over time in order to adapt to broader social-economic changes.

The classification system was the means devised to select membership. In Rotary’s classification, “a profession was defined by the capacity to offer the community a ware or service” (De Grazia, 2005: 58). In principle, each profession or classification could be represented by only one member. In principle, the Rotary selected the top representatives of each profession or classification (De Grazia, 2005: 33). The original stipulation, however, was flexible enough to tolerate deviations from the norm, provided the local clubs could provide some plausible sociological explanation.

The following table provides the classification of services that was in practice at the Shanghai Rotary Club between 1930-1948. For analytical purposes, I have reduced this classification to twenty main categories, so as to enable comparisons, to identify long-term patterns and to track changes over time (the attached table includes correspondence between the original classification and my own simplified typology).

Let’s examine more closely the distribution of activities among Shanghai Rotarians between 1930 and 1948. What did they do for a living? In which professional fields or business sectors did they engage? Or to borrow the Rotarian terminology, how did they serve society?

Shanghai Rotarians’ sectors of activity (all nationalities)

Over the entire period, and all nationalities included, Shanghai Rotarians primarily engaged in the financial sector (34 members, 13%), followed by machinery, equipment and energy (27, 11%). The second group includes more diverse activities that  represented each less than 10% of Rotary’s membership: government service and transportation (22, 9% each), medical and health service (20, 8%), arts, decoration and entertainment services (19, 7%); associations, paper and textile industry (18, 7% each). The third and last group comprises minor activities that involved less than 5% of Rotarians: chemical industry (17, 7%); building (10, 4%); education (8, 3%); communication (7, 3%); food and tobacco ; retail and wholesale trade (6, 2% each); honorary and retired members (less than 2%).

How did this structure evolve over time? Let’s now consider Shanghai Rotarians’ activities year by year.

In 1930, the distribution of activities was very similar to that of the long-term pattern.  The four core activities that dominated over the entire period (finance, machinery, government service, transportation) were already well established among Shanghai Rotarians. Finance had already emerged as the leading sector (11, 14%), followed by machinery (9, 12%). There were small exceptions to the long-term distribution, however: government service (8%) came after transportation (9%); paper and textile (8% each) overtook associations; building (5%) surpassed the chemical industry (4%) and honorary members (3 Rotarians, 4%). Retail and wholesale trade represented but a small share of the overall distribution (only 1 member, 1%).

By 1940, there had been no structural change in the initial distribution. Financial services and machinery slowly progressed (from 14% to 16%, and from 12 to 19%, respectively). Although government service experienced a small decrease (from 8% to 7%), it still came fourth, immediately behind transportation (9%). Three other sectors had slightly declined: arts and entertainment (from 9% to 7%), associations (from 6 to 5%), paper (from 8 to 7%) and textile (from 8 to 6%). The construction industry had dropped dramatically (from 5 to 1%), while education and religion/charity had totally disappeared. There were still two honorary or retired members. Conversely, Shanghai Rotarians were increasingly attracted by medical services (from 6 to 7%) and retail/wholesale trade (from 1 to 3%). Despite its recent emergence, the communication sector already stood in a respectable position (5 members, 5%).

The postwar distribution suggests that the Sino-Japanese war brought a serious overhaul to the rather stable distribution of Rotarians’ activities so far. In 1948, financial services and machinery have decreased significantly (from 16 to 9% and 13 to 6% respectively). The massive departures of foreigners during the war may account for this decline. By contrast, government and medical services have risen from 7 to 11%, while associations have doubled their share (from 5 to 10%), which was probably an effect of the war and the subsequent need for relief operations.

How did this general structure vary according to Rotarians’ nationality? Let’s first have a look at Chinese Rotarians’ activities over the period 1930-1948. Did they follow the general pattern or did they display a distinct social-economical profile?

Chinese Rotarians: a sustained polarization around medical and financial services

Distribution of activities among Chinese Rotarians (1930-1948)

Over the period 1930-1948, the distribution of activities among Chinese Rotarians slightly detracted from the general trend. They tended to specialize primarily in medical and health services (15 members, 17%), followed by finance (11, 13%). Less than 10% of Chinese Rotarians engaged in arts and entertainment (8, 9%), or textile and transportation (7 members, 8% each). They were even fewer to pursue their careers in the building and chemical industry, in associations, government service, and machinery (5 members each, 6%), in the paper industry (6, 5%), the communication sector, or as honorary members (3, 3% each). Education and the food industry included only one member each (1%).

How did this structure evolve over time? Let’s now consider Chinese Rotarians’ activities year by year.

In 1930, the distribution of services among Chinese Rotarians followed the long-term pattern for this specific group, with a few yet significant deviations. Sectors like transportation were either poorly represented (only 1 member, 5%) or not represented at all (associations, chemical industry, machinery, communication and food industry). Part of the explanation may lie in the fact that these were still emerging industries at the time. Other better established sectors appearently took advantage of their relatively late development: building materials (3 members, 16%), which now stood on equal footing with the medical sector, followed by education, religion and charity (1, 5% each), arts and entertainment, transportation, paper and honorary members (2, 11% each).

American Rotarians: more eclectic careers

Distribution of activities among American Rotarians (1930-1948)

British Rotarians: leaders in transportation, but also more diverse profiles

British Rotarians’ sectors of activity

Within the British group, the distribution of activities was very widespread with limited disparities in the long-term. British Rotarians specialized first in transportation (7, 19%), followed by finance (5; 14%), associations and machinery (4, 11% each), and the paper and textile industries (3, 10% each). The next group of activities (including less than 10% of British members) comprised arts, the chemical industry, education and government service (2, 5% each). The remaining members engaged in more diverse activities: communication, medical service and retail or wholesale trade (1, 3% each). British Rotarians were totally absent from the food industry over the entire period.

The next episode will refine this sectorial analysis through a in-depth study of Shanghai Rotarians’ occupations.

References

De Grazia, Victoria. Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005.

Cécile Armand

Ancienne élève de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (2006), agrégée d'histoire (2009), docteure en histoire (2017), mes travaux portent sur la publicité, l'histoire urbaine, les migrations intellectuelles entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis et les méthodes computationnelles appliquées à la recherche historique. Mes recherches ont reçu le soutien des fondations Chiang Ching-kuo, Coca-Cola, Andrew Mellon (Program DHAsia, Stanford), de l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Access ERC, ENS-Lyon) et du Conseil Européen de la Recherche (projet ENP-China, Aix-Marseille).

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