Preface
Innovation is the major source of social movement. Since the Industrial Revolution, innovation in technology has always been a major leader in modern civilization. However, innovation does not lie entirely in new technology, but also how we use it, and even how we adapt it into a new social form of organization in order to prepare for the new stage of human societies.
Social innovation is how we, as a human society, innovate a new form of implementing brilliant ideas, regardless of whether new technology is adopted or not. The central focus is on the problem of human-centered innovation in order to achieve an advanced living standard, in terms of business opportunity and humane values.
The world is uneven, not just in natural resources, but also in its economic systems. The Western concept of modern capitalism has made great strides in wealth creation, but, unfortunately, it has also made the world more uneven. As university professors, we live relatively well, in terms of social status as well as in our living standards. But,
Why are many young students unsatisfied with the jobs they can get (or why is it that they can hardly get one)?
Because they see no hope of having enough income to pay for high rents and daily expenses, not to mention the cost of buying a house/apartment in their lifetime.
Why are so many people of middle-age obsolete on the job market and have no choice but to become taxi drivers and work 18 hours a day for a paycheck-to-paycheck life?
Because they find no opportunity to get a job requiring skilled labor in the fast-moving technology era of human societies.
Why are so many farmers telling their sons not to stay at home as farmers but find a career in a far-from-home city and to never come back?
Because although agricultural production supplies daily food, one never has a chance to earn an income that is better than working in a corporation in the cities.
With a good income, we seem to live good lives. But, do we?
How many of us live a good life without worrying about losing out in the competition?
When we hear more and more people around us telling us more bad stories than good, what is wrong? How can we solve the problem?
Winners say to losers that you should not blame the system, because you play with it.
If we cannot change the uneven results of modern capitalism, how can we find a way to become another form of a “non-loser”?
Innovation!
Unfortunately, most of us neither have the talent nor the technologytraining to make progress in technology innovation. God give each one of us a brain!
Innovation does not always have to be in technology form. We can use our brain to find a good way of living because we are all human beings. We know what is a good life, so we should find a way to innovate, not just for ourselves, but for our community.
Yes, start from your own dreams, which each one of us has had since childhood. If you do not want to live a miserable paycheck-to-paycheck life, organize a new one.
Our primary objective is to provide hope to anyone who is worried about losing his or her grounds for a good life in the current society. We demonstrate how social innovation can start from your personal dream to carry through a new form of organizing opportunities. There is always the possibility of letting our dreams come true through the years. Taxi drivers, farmers, and even university researchers, show the way, not just for themselves, but for the communities they belong to.
By telling our stories, consolidated over nearly a decade of academic research, in a social practice based in Taiwan, this book shows that it is possible for one good dream to create common good for others by using social innovation. It is not only us, anyone can learn something from this book on how social innovation can be initiated, organized (across sectors), implemented, duplicated, extended, and eventually diffused into more and more people around one.
The dream of a common good is still achievable in modern societies. Do not blame capitalism for creating uneven wealth, but resolve the problem by using social innovations.
There are many people who inspired us. First of all, we want to give credit to the taxi drivers and farmers in Taiwan, who have been the communities in our academic research fields over the past decade. We have learned a lot from their street wisdom. Given that most of them live and work in difficult conditions, they remain well and continue to fight for their lives. When the morning sunrise gives hope, the storm destroys everything, but let it be. They deserve a better life and a better living, and social innovations can make it happen.
We are honored by the foreword from Dr. Cheng-Shu Kao, executive vicechairman and EMBA Chair Professor, Feng Chia University, and endorsements from Stan Shih, founder, Acer Group, Dr. Jing-Jyi Wu, Endowed Chair in Creativity, National Chengchi University Center for Creativity and Innovation Studies, and Dr. Dung-Sheng Chen, National Taiwan University. They are among the most influential scholars and industry leaders in Taiwan, with a humane interest in businesses, education, and societies in Taiwan as well as in the overseas Chinese world. We thank them for their precious time spent in reading our book and providing appreciation.
We thank the years of funding for our field research, including research projects granted by the Ministry of Science Technology in Taiwan (MOST103-2410-H-035-044; MOST103-2410-H-035-034-SSS), National Science Council in Taiwan (NSC 101-2410-H-035-044; NSC 100-2410H-035-046; NSC 99-2627-E-002-004; NSC 101-2410-H-035-042-MY3; NSC 99-2410-H-035-010-MY2), Council of Agriculture (050101Q104), and Ministry of Education (National Chengchi University Top University Project). In addition, Feng Chia University, Center for Creativity and Innovation Studies of National Chengchi University, Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation, and The Keep Walking Fund provided funds to support our dreams in academia-industry collaborative research.
We thank Feng Chia University. Both of us work in this great university, supportive of our dreams, at SIMD (Center for Service Innovation and Mobility Design). Since the launch of SIMD, we’ve been devoted to finding ways we can achieve something by doing good rather than something to gain credit (e.g., SSCI publications, research project grants, . . .). The board and some senior colleagues, including Cheng-Shu Kao, Pao-Long Chang, Bing-Jean Lee, Ming-Hsien Yang, Chyi-Ren Dow, Wei Wang, Benray Jai, Wen-Shang Lai, and many others provided physical and intangible resources and support for our center in the past three years. Centered at SIMD, we also now organize a loosely structured peer, called Cheers.
Cheers invites junior scholars to discuss ideas, not just in research, but on how to make a social impact beyond the SSCI impact factor. Members include Jennifer Chen (Nanwha University), Jimmy Lo (National Chinan University), CF Lee (Shih Chien University), Shiu-Ying Huang (Feng Chia University), and Jui-Ling Hsu (Feng Chia University). Thanks to Cheers members for regularly engaging in research, teaching, and service dialogues at SIMD. More importantly, we always have a good lunch or dinner after the meeting in order to get inspired by food as well as friendship!
We also thank our research assistants. First, we thank Jason Yang, who is a very smart and responsive college student at Feng Chia University. Without him, this book would not be delivered on schedule. Second, we thank Wan-Chien Lien, who is a doctoral student at National Chengchi University. She has always been helpful whenever we need instant assistance. Third, we thank Casey David Sams, who is an American studying in the IMBA program at Feng Chia University. He offered help on editing the book and also provided comments to make the chapters more interesting.
Most importantly, we thank all of our mentors and collaborative research participants. This includes Dr. Se-Hwa Wu at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Dung-Sheng Chen and Dr. Jason Chang at the National Taiwan University, Dr. Ming-Jer Chen at the Darden School, University of Virginia, Dr. Reuy-Lin Hsiao at National Chengchi University, Chang-Shou Yen at Alliance Cultural Foundation, Cheng-hsien Liang at Chih Shang Rice Company, Chung-Hsun Liao and his wife Yu-Ping Wu at Yong-An Community, the many taxi drivers at TAIWAN Taxi Academy Association, and the many rice farmers and residences at Chi-shang Township.
I Han and Sheng-Tsung Hou February, 2015
Why Social Enterprise Matters
We have all heard the story about the six-year-old boy who suddenly kisses the cheek of a five-year-old girl, startling her in the process. She exclaims, “Are you serious!” to which the boy smiles and replies, “We’re no longer three-year-old kids.”
So it is with management science and organization theory. Like these children, the two fields—youngsters in a community of mature social sciences—are in the paradoxical state of precocious naïveté. They have grown, but are surprised by their own development and by the changing world around them. The rapidly changing world continues creating challenges for practitioners in managing organizations, particularly after the 2008 global financial crisis. Numerous social activisms were held in societies across the world to fight against an unfair consequence from a questionable capitalism. In the face of global social challenges, new forms of enterprises are needed. Are organizations prepared to meet the demands? What innovative designs and structures will advance the management and organization fields, in both theory and practice, and help lead, ultimately, to better societies?
Let us consider a social phenomenon that rippled across the United States and around the world a few years ago: the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the autumn of 2011, activists launched a protest in the financial district of New York City to shine a spotlight on economic and social inequality, seeking to narrow the disparity between what organizers saw as the wealth holders in the top 1% and the other 99% of the populace. The campaign of social resistance seemed to wake up corporations and their management teams. Surely, they thought, the effects of the populist movement would reverberate throughout the business world. Could a “postcapitalist” society be glimpsed on the horizon?
In the years since, research in the social sciences has taken a keen interest in the issues at the heart of the Occupy movement, studying how
enterprises might use organizational design to create social innovations and deliver new value for the common good. What kinds of organizational designs and structures will advance management and organization, in both theory and practice, in order to respond to the current challenge? Research suggests a dawning awareness and steady but slow evolution. Can we imagine a predominant form of organization that will serve as the model for social innovation?
I. The War of 1% Versus 99%: Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street was launched by the Canadian anticonsumer organization Adbusters Media Foundation and inspired by civil resistance movements like the political Arab Spring demonstrations.1 In September 2011, Occupy activists took to the streets of New York’s financial district to protest the causes and consequences of the then-current financial crisis: massive corporate bailouts and bankruptcies, a drastic economic downturn, and soaring unemployment—the effects of which were billowing from America to the world’s other economies. Adbusters had proposed a peaceful gathering to speak out against the inaction of American leadership in resolving the problems underlying the economic crisis. The protest started with a few thousand activists demonstrating against social and economic inequality and corporate influence in politics and government. The Occupy movement was soon taken to other cities around the United States, including Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Charlotte, Seattle, and Denver.2
The main theme of the Occupy movement was that the 99% should have a democratically proportionate voice in the economic and political systems and that corruption and greed among the 1%—the “winners” of capitalism (Figure 1.1)—needed to be corrected. The protests sought to use a civil institution to replace politics operating in the shade of big business. Within a month, the Occupy campaign had spread on a global scale and exploded into an international movement spanning continents, reaching Zhengzhou, Taipei, Seoul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and cities across Europe. As recently as 2014, major protests against business regimes were taking place in Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, and Taiwan, and the occupation of government buildings was still a tactic for protesting corruption in capitalist institutions.
Why should we, as researchers in the management and organization fields, care about the civil topics raised by social activist movements like Occupy? What are the implications of “1% versus 99%” for business managers and academic researchers, and how do these issues reflect on us? Social enterprises around the world are modeling how organization design
may lead the way to a new, sustainable system of innovation for overall social good. Our book presents cases in Taiwan to illustrate how social enterprise innovations may offer alternative solutions, through theoretical and practical dialog and design, to populist activism that will minimize the oppositional tension between economic winners and losers.
II. The Common Social Problems of the World
To put it broadly, the message of the “99 percenters,” represented by the Occupy movement, was that capitalism has created formidable social problems in developed and emerging economies alike. Occupy activists questioned whether the results of capitalism and globalization have historically been any better than the outcomes of other systems in matters of poverty and employment, economic development, the environment, healthcare, family values, human rights, and education (Figure 1.2). The issues may be parsed into distinct but related areas.
First, globalization has contributed to the problem of domestic poverty and unemployment in many countries, particularly among younger generations who have lost their jobs to underdeveloped nations with location advantages and low labor costs—the types of locales where multinational enterprises (MNEs) prefer to outsource production. In addition, the demand for manpower is decreasing globally, as new technologies and automation replace the functions of many jobs.
Figure 1.1 Wealth Distribution by Income in the United States in the Twentieth Century
Second, capitalism is linked to a host of environmental challenges including climate change and global warming—issues that can be framed overall in the relationship between human beings and the silent stakeholders of the environment: land, natural resources, and energy. In addition, the treatment and preservation of animals and plants—a key to a sustainable ecological system—is in conflict with population growth, which threatens even scarcer natural resources.
Third, the problem of medical care, particularly in some developing and many underdeveloped economies, is an urgent issue. Even with the more advanced healthcare systems in developed countries, the “globalization of infectious diseases” across national borders via international transportation, for example, is a constant threat. Coordinating a global effort to advance medical systems in underdeveloped countries is an enormous challenge for nongovernmental organizations and supranational institutions.
Fourth, the erosion in family and humane values is evident in Internet-based societies. Moreover, structural changes in the family and institutions such as marriage may be causing a significant shift from the past standards of value systems and interpersonal relations. Fifth, there is the issue of human rights of minorities in the context of international labor and new migrations from rural to urban areas in both advanced
Figure 1.2 The Common Social Problems of the World
and developing Asian countries. The rising demand for low-cost international labor, particularly women, has caused a structural change in populations; along with the offer of social care in the destination country for immigrants, this has created new challenges, since most laborers are located in rural regions or among the lowest socioeconomic groups. How to take care of these migrants and how to provide them with increased social mobility have created common problems in many Asian countries.
Sixth, the alienation induced by the Internet economy creates challenges for civil engagement, namely, for community participation in local environments. Many social interactions now take place entirely over the Internet. Although social media has been used to advance certain public issues and link events worldwide, civil engagement in the local community—where the heart of public interest resides—is still essential. Keeping local residents involved in local affairs is a fundamental element of building a society for the common good. While learning and education have always been central to upward social mobility, modern capitalism has influenced the educational systems of many countries in ways that have not advanced local environments. For example, poor families in many rural areas have gradually lost potential upward social mobility because they are not provided with, and cannot afford, technology such as computers or smartphones, resources that have a high rate of penetration in metropolitan areas. In short, these people lack the investments in advanced technology and facilities that can open doors to social advancement through education. Without innovative efforts to break the trap of unbalanced resource distribution in education systems, their socioeconomic status might not change for generations.
These problems are common around the world and they are “social” issues rather than technical or economic ones. Further, these issues may be construed as structural problems across nations of varying degrees of development. Without question, globalization over the past two decades has created considerable wealth among the knowledge-based economies. However, the flip side is equally significant: the unbalanced distributions of resources and outcomes, as a result of the inefficiency of capitalism to meet universal human needs, have mired the majority of the world’s population in an economically stagnant state, or worse, an economic recession. The problem is that this system where 1% holds the reins of economic and social power and increasingly controls more and more resources as well as absolute wealth, based on the logic of modern capitalism, has disrupted the structure of the middle class, pulling it down to the bottom of the social pyramid.
III. The Nature of the Organization
The social problems described here can be resolved in conventional ways by using any of three organizational designs. The first, and perhaps most common, is government, which can exercise its power of authority and enforcement to provide social welfare through resource distribution. The government may be the principal organizational form for resolving social problems in the event of capitalist market failure, that is, when the efficiency-based economic tools are inadequate to address issues of social fairness, justice, and human rights. In this case, the powerful hand of government is an effective organizational form for correcting the shortcomings of for-profit organizations. Second, the ability of for-profit organizations to take ethical actions of social responsibility may be the most efficient way to resolve social problems, but it is often a challenge for corporations to convince shareholders to invest profits and resources in the public social sector—without a scenario that simultaneously promises a goal of maximizing profitability. Lastly, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are well suited for solving social issues and are typically able to access and integrate both government financial resources and donations from corporations as well as individuals. NPOs have historically played important roles in rectifying social problems and assisting in the reconstruction of social value. However, the sustainable operation of NPOs is often highly dependent on the host country’s overall economic status.
The effectiveness of these organizational forms rests on three foundations of power. The government leverages its political power through authority mechanisms. The corporation exercises its economic power through market mechanisms. And NPOs apply societal through social mechanisms. However, corporations and NPOs can encounter several obstacles.
On the one hand, the existence of the corporate form of organization fulfills the market’s needs, generated by upstream suppliers, intermediate factories, downstream business users, consumers, and even the public. On the other hand, these needs are met through the value creation of entrepreneurs, shareholders of corporations (financial capital value), and management teams and executive staffs (intellectual/human capital value). Nevertheless, how does the value created by the corporate organization allocate the wealth produced through value creation? Capitalism, while an efficient system for expanding the economic value of market growth, suffers from a shortcoming: its efficiency-based ground rule is not fundamentally intended for fair and equitable resource and outcome distributions among stakeholders beyond the corporate shareholders. A balance of efficiency and fairness is a “need” of all stakeholders in society, and it
cannot be achieved by capitalism. The value creation bible of capitalism, rather, extols maximizing profitability for the corporate shareholders. As the size of the corporation increases in response to market expansion and profitability, the division between management and ownership grows as well, and the corporation is operated with the aim of delivering and allocating value beyond the corporate boundary, or external stakeholders. Throughout the value-added activities, such creation and value exchanges involve both internal and external stakeholders and continue onto end users as well as non-end users (such as the public/environment). Once profitability is secured, the corporation might use its excess capacity of resources to respond to the needs of external stakeholders (such as local communities and the environment), or in the form of acts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in response to pressure from the public.
Why is CSR increasingly important? Why—when more and more corporations invest increasing amounts of resources for external stakeholders, particularly for the public—are there still a multitude of problems related to the “1% vs. 99%”? If these “whys” cannot be answered, it is possible that the corporate organization will face a major structural obstacle in the future. Perhaps, before that consequence, we should further explore the nature of the corporate organization itself, and the causality between the tools of business strategy and the survival of corporations.
This explains why the existence of NPOs is necessary: to go beyond the limitations of corporate boundaries, particularly in tackling social problems associated with the negative consequences of capitalism and its major players, that is, for-profit organizations. In addition, external problems, such as inappropriate use of natural resources or unfriendly relationships with local communities, which cause market failures, cannot always be resolved by corporations. This is where NPOs can step in to play a supplementary role in fulfilling needs that are not met by the market mechanisms of the corporate sector.
NPOs recruit resources from for-profit corporations and the public, as well as from the government. Tapping these various sources, NPOs allocate the resources according to need; nonetheless, there are limitations for NPOs. One major limitation is funding unsustainability due to the unstable nature of resources. The irregularity of NPO resources typically stems, ironically, from inefficiencies and market fluctuations; that is, NPOs, by relying on corporate donations, inevitably suffer during economic hard times when corporate profitability is at its weakest. The problem of inefficiency of resource recruiting remains irresolvable, because resources are dependent on the willingness of donation sources and on tax-exemption incentives, from both corporations and the public. In addition, because of the lack of internal profitability and cost measures, NPOs usually cannot
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nachs wist ie ’t altaid vàst, dat ie d’r was.… Moar op dag, gong ’t weg!.. Kaik da’ ha je se weer.… Nou stonge se weer om sain.… ’n heule bende swarte kerels!.… En nou stonge se weer an s’n strot te trekke.… kaik!.… soo weer aldegoar sterretjes veur s’n ooge.… huhu!.… pal d’r veur.… Enn.… nou.. kaik!.… wá’ donker ’t word.… hoho!.… enne.… enne.. tùg dag.… was ’t strak-en-an!.. Sou die in de hel komme?.. enne.… Spulle waa’s nooit van sain.… nooit had ie wá’ f’rkocht.… nooit sou ie s’n spulle weer anroàke!.… Enne.… hai sou weggaife.… teruggaife.… alles.… alles! Aa’s ie nou moar nie dood hoefte!.… Jesis wá’ wàrm om s’n hoofd.. begon ’t weer te gloeie, om s’n kop.—kaik!.… nog donkerder.… veur s’n ooge.… Jesis waa’n benauwing!.…
Zitten, doodstil, bleef ie ’n poos, verkneed in hijgenden luchtsnakkenden angst, met z’n handen woest-grabbelend aan z’n [335]kiel, of ie iets wou loswringen dáár. Langzaam eindelijk zakte weer gloeiing van z’n kop, begon ie weer te peinzen, stil.. Nou sat ie nie meer in donker.… Moar kaik!.… de kerels.… die swarte kerels van sain, woare weg! Moar tug most ’r ies skrikkeliks beure mit sain. Da’ was vast woar!.. vast woar.. hoho!.… Net of d’r swoare onweer in de lucht sat.… soo bangelik, beverig en angstig, gejoagd, en keliekig voelde ie s’n aige!.… Hai wou wel loope.… loope.… Want al die swoare wolke.… satte op sàin kop.… dá’ voelde ie puur. En nou kwam ’r weer donkerte veur sain ooge.… donker wier ’t.… heul donker.…
Schuifelend was ie in den leegen koel-beschaduwden stal, in ’n duister hoekje op ’n steen neergezakt, met z’n hoofd tegen ’t rem. En z’n handen, slap en trillerig, hingen langs z’n lijf.
Nou mostie moar bedoàre.… stilletjes.… sain gangetje goan.… dà konne.… de wolleke soo op s’n kop drukke.… en.… aa’s d’r bliksem kwam.… kon die nie bai sàin.… nie sien.… want veur sain ooge was
’t donker.… stikke donker.… heulegoar puur nacht.… nou most ie bedoare.… puur nacht.… stikke benauwd.… puur nacht!.…
[Inhoud]
II.
Hooge zang van werkers galmde uit, achter stekjes en rijzen, den Juni-ochtend in. Prachtige zangklanken, die zeilden in sonore trilling door diep luchtenblauw, uit de overal dichtgegroeide en omzonde groente-tuinen.—In kleur-klatering goudde de aarde, en overal uit de gaarden, van singelgroen en hagen ingesloten, dampte ochtendgoud van jongen zomer, nevelvroege dauw, die vonkvuur schoot en paarlen spatte tusschen grashalmen en bladeren. Achter de hagen, als groene sierwanden tusschen elken akker òpgegroeid, schemerden blauwkielen door, werkers die hurkten òver het lichtverstuivend prachtgroen van aardbeibedden. [336]
Jonge, zoete geuren-hitte trilde uit de gouden aarde en lichtelijk schroeide de zon Wiereland. Tegen den middag alleen, beefde zwaarder hitte boven het groengoud van velden, flonkerde diep ’t licht tusschen de bladeren, stond stil de zanglust van werkers, wèg in zwaren zwoeg.
Dirk en Kees werkten in ’t paarse schaduwlommer, bij Gerrits aardappelengrond. Aan één zij achteruit, lag hun akker begrensd door woest, reusachtig tuinbrok van rijken, stillevenden kweeker Waarmer. Tot vlak achter de meidoornhaag van beukenlaan naar ’t duin, liep diens tuin, groot en wild. ’n Lompe, nijdige heereboer, stillevend en kwaadaardig, was Waarmer. Z’n huis in ’t tuinbrok, lag er
stil dicht-gegroeid en belommerd in groene schemerkoelte, tusschen reuzige olmen, eiken, beuken en diep gepoort van pracht-wilde lanen. Voorstuk met ijzerdraad afgepiekt keken de werkers in, schemerwoeste diep van den tuin, die nu in den Juniochtend te wonderen groeide, in sproke-atmosfeer van groengoude scheemring en kleurrankende bloeipracht. Glans-statige kippetjes liepen los, rond te kokkelen en te kukelen druk en jolig door het gras, doken glans-schuchter, met punt-wiegelende staartjes wèg in ’t hooge, blanke waterster, dat er neergesneeuwd wemelde in vonkschitter bedauwdrupt, broos en wiegelend op teeren, slanken stengel; hooge boeketten van blank licht, tusschen diep scheemrend goudgroen. Jonge abeeltjes stonden in wilden stammekronkel te sneeuwen met hun witte donsblad, te zilver-wuiven tegen luchtglanzen. En weeke luwte-schuifel zong om ze, als koelende zingende zomerregen in ruisch-tuin.—
En laag in ’t wilde boomgroen, stond, in oud-goud rood baksteen, teer-tonig, verzakt en ingeslonken, ’t stalhuis achter sierdans van gouden regen, slanke stammetjes, met hun gouden trossen, trossen in prachthang, als lanen waartusschen zonnewebben te verglanzen ragden, in trillend waas. Midden in tuinbrok kringde open, schemering van groen grasvlaktetje, goud-zonnig uitduikend onder woeste beuken. Blanke ganzen waggelden ’r rond, teer ’t oranje van hun bekken, en om hen dribbelden jonge blonde, kale kuikentjes, veerloos en druk, wegzakkend [337]in de grashalmen, in eeuwig eetgepik, kopjes-golvend door ’t pluimgras, achter elkaar, in waggelend rijtje.—
Hoog, hals-gerekt, in zij-lingschen oogstaar, waakte vadergans, in blanken waggel achter de pikkende kuikens áán, soms even stappend in natten zonneschitter, dat er licht van z’n blanke veeren droop; drentelde moeder-gans méé, achter beschermd jeugdje, in het schitter-zonnige, zoete grasgroen. Oud bemenied hekwerk,
stond in rood-felle schittering, half bezond, in sier van vuurlijnen voor ’n gedrochtelijk-uitgeholden boomknoest, monster dat gaapte, met nijlpaarden-muil, aan ingang. En heel diep, in half-bladerduister, blankte zacht òp, ’t witte huisje van Waarmer, beluwd onder koelendgroen uitgeurende kastanjes. Rondom, in ’t wild, danste kring van reuzevarens een woesten horlepijp, fijn in rankte spitsen hun krullende toppen, als vingeren slank ver-strekkend. En heel naar achter lag de woeste tuin dichtgegroeid, brak het lentelicht er in, tot zilver-koele glanzen, mat-blauwig, dampig licht onder blader-donker, in al gamma’s van schaduwdiep, geheimvol verruischend ’t lied van de lommerstilte. Als boven graf van gestorven saizoenen, zoemde er stil, in zilverblauwig waas, gebroken licht, al ijler uitgezeefd en onderschept door weer ander boom-groen en struik; dreven daar rond, geheimen van natuurleven, zalig in eenzamen groei, poëzie van het stilste, zwijgendste lommer.—
Groote heesters bogen in ranken wiegel òver naar wilde graspluim, en fijn ruischte ’r koele suizel rond van wind, ruischende eolusharpen, in fluisterenden zangespraak met bloemengroei en boomleven. Op ’t koele woningmuurtje, vermarmerd blank, ging in schaduwsier van varen en takjes, geheimvol leven rond van silhouetten, waartusschen rondgestrooide goudlichtjes en tril-vonkjes flitsten, verpijld door hooge tak-kronkels.
In de stille, omlommerde vensterruitjes, droomde koel licht van tuin, teruggeglansd in zachte vegen van gelen gloor, dof en heimelijk. En naast ’t hekwerk, brokkelde scheef verzakte, donker bemoste, roestige kringmuur, verweerd en duister, als ruïne van oud kreunend leven, waarop pauwenpracht uitwaaierde, [338]bronzen goudscherm van veeren, groenstalen, kijkende schitterings-oogen van glans alléén. Zacht hondengeblaf dofte soms òp uit den stillen, binnensten goudschemer van roerlooze lanen.
In den hoek waar Kees en Dirk werkten, lag achter hagedoorn, ’n plek als leeggehakt, openend gouden tuinhart. Bleek-schoone, lilaseringen als jonkvrouwen in biechteenzaamheid gevangen, slankten plots òp uit gloeiende zonneplek, in lange rijen achter elkaar. Fijn, hun geurige kroonselen zoetten reuken door de lucht, en boven de rij van bleeke lila’s, dromden verdonkerend bronzen beuken, als wolken rood-violet licht, hooger òp doorvlamd van zonnegloed, felle zang van smachtend rood, tegen het bleeke lila, dat èven er onder uitgeurde, z’n fijne droomtonen, ijl in bedwelmende sfeer. Telkens zoo éven, schoot, uit de groen-gouë koelte van tuinwoesten groei, ’n plek open in zon, blankten wat rijtjes narcissen áán, of vruchtboomen in nabloei, purperend en sneeuwend, met zwoelenden geur-adem. Gloed zong van kastanje-kroonselen, die te geuren ijlden in ’t teer-heete Junigoud. En sterker kwamen uitranken verderop, zangerige lila-trossen, en kranzen hooger. En enkele seringen buiten de zon, slankten verbroosd in vochtigen wasem van gebroken zilverende lichtsfeer, koel.—
Op zoog de beukenlaan, vóór Van Ouwenaar’s landgoed, geurzwijmel van woesten tuin, die ijl te ademen hijgden. Seringenadem en jasmijnen, dennengeur, en vochtige boschzoetheid, stoof in zacht en zwijmel naar de lichtgrot, tusschen al hoogzingender groen van jong geboomte uit jonkheer’s landgoed.
Als laatste dagpracht van lentefeest, geurde de beukenlaan, volgedronken van zwoele arooms uit tuinbrok, zwommen in gons, zang-teer de bijen en vliegen rond, ging lentezwijmel ten offer aan het licht, het licht dat gloeien en koken wou, naar de gouên grot, aan ’t laan-eind. In zalige weelde, glansde en praalde ’t daggoud, vonkte ’t licht, klaterden de kleuren van bloemen, rond grond en boomen, lag Wiereland honing te zwelgen uit gouden bloeme-schalen, in geuren-zoet te zwijmen, in rook van licht en vocht. En overal juichten en klaroenden de vogels hun zilveren zang door het groen. [339]
Kees was wat later opgehouên dan anders. Er waren karren met bakken van de haven teruggehaald. Piet had gevent, goed verkocht, en Kees had van Dirk ’n gulden boven z’n zweetloontje gebeurd. Noodig voor z’n hongerend nest van dertien, waar ook nù nog, gevochten werd om broodkruimels.—Voor ’t eerst, met wat geld in z’n zak, stapte ie naar ’t duinkrot. Stil laat-lichtende lanen liep ie door, blij met ’t groen, dat ie eerst niet gezien had. Nou was ’t net, of er iets in z’n ruw leven, z’n driftziel, verzachtte tegen alles. Er woelde een geur om ’m heen van zoetheid, ijle reuk van bloemen, en er was iets blij’s in ’m, als hield ie toch van ’t leven.—
Luidloos, in prachtstralende zinking van licht was de vroege Juniavond om ’m, aan ’t sterven.—Jonge popels lichtelijk bebladerd slankten ver in avondrood, zachten gloed die als reuzige glansschild d’aard kwam overdekken.—
Rag en éven groen-verdonkerd lijnden de twijgen in ’t rozerood en stille murmeling van zoet landgeklank ruischte van akker-verten àf, als fluisterde nachtleven rond z’n beenen.—Zalig en zoet geurde bezonken dagzwijmel na, de aarde glansgroenend en glansvergouênd in droom-rozigen luchtbrand van zonnezink, madonna-gouïg en heilig ver-aureolend door laantjes en boomblâar.
Dennetjes, licht-groen gezoomd aan donk’re takkransen, stonden dwars doorlicht in rooien gloed, als heilige kandelabers in reuzige kathedraal zacht te branden, met de jonge kaarsjes tot den top in vlam geploft, zacht-glanzend, roereloos kaarselicht, aangestoken in ’t wonder-teere avondgoud. Aan wegkanten van weiland en glooiigen duingrond, bloedde éven doorvlamd fijn rood gepunt van eiken hakhout, teer als bladknipsels, looverig rood getintel, dat arabeske lijntjes droop van zonnig rood door ’t struikgroen. Fijn paarse hondsdraf toortste, lichtelijk gekringd in stoetjes, in ’t avond droom-fijne glanslicht, levende wezentjes, zelf bestarend den
zonnezink. En rond, in verre kransen, kroop bijéén in ’t lokkende goud-zachte gevlam de eereprijs, heel teere blauwe lichtjes, dwaalzwammetjes in ’t grazend innig-schitterende weigroen.—Als weggewaaide [340]kleurvedertjes van zwaluwstalig licht, stipten en trilden ’t blauw-zilverige avondgebloemte in de glanszonne, maar lichter, weeker van wéérgloedjes, tusschen de blanke boeketjes van geel-kransige madeliefjes en akkerkoorn, die heel broos, heel blank kuste ’t licht.—Teer wit, in blank gevloei van licht, al teerder en fijner, zilverden de witjes-madelieven òp tusschen het schitter-fijne vergelend gras. Van alle kanten staarden uit den wond’ren lichtstroom van ’t goud-doorzeisde grasgroen, de bloemgezichtjes. Overal zongen laat licht, en laat doorgloeide kleuren in den volstijgenden lentetooi, en ’t diep violet, ’t purper, ’t rood, vloeide en deinde tusschen ’t dauwende avondpaars. En ’t landschap zong in avondvergouïng, met keeltjes van duizenden harpenaren.
Tusschen wilgenzilver en abeelensneeuw ging suizeling, die fluisterde dat lente sterven moest, ging laatste tril nog, in zoete koortsigheid van grondgeur en jong gras. Hoog, uit de boomen, van kruinen en dieperen avondglans, zong jubel plòts van nachtegaal, afscheidszang aan lente.
Tusschen de zoete zomergeuren van wei en tuin en lichtval, die tooverde roodgoud rond de struiken,—overgoude stof die verwasemde de avondstille wegjes, rood-zandige kronkelpaadjes en nauw-door-elkaar harpende boomen,—zilverde neer hun lyrische jubel.—
Laag op wilgentak, grauwde klein lijfje van nachtegaal. Z’n oogjes glansden nog van avondrood geluk, en staar en stil, luisterde ze naar triolenden lokzang, uit eigen wond’re zilverkeeltje, lokzang opgroeiend in de heilige landstilte, tot zuiltje van parelend kwinkeleer en zoet tierelier.—Teer verhaperde eerst nog z’n lokkend vleiend
fluitkeeltje, z’n kristallen gorgeltje, wat zangerige weemoedsneuriing. En telkens brak z’n liedje, verstomd stil-staand in de vergoudende avondrust.
Dan plots borrelde zilveren tremolo, ’t kristallen keeltje òpzwellend in klank-zoet vleiend streelewijsje. Oogjes glansden rooder in gloed, z’n kopje luisterde zoet. Weer zette dierke in, kwam er smachting in ’t streelewijsje, spoot ’n trillenspartel [341]jubelend hoog, borrelde voller, klare zilveren toontjes in ’t kristallen gorgeltje. Al luider en zoetvloeiender beefden de slagen òp uit z’n keeltje, kristallige spartel en fonkel; al passiënder zwòl de jubel.
Zwijmelende zange-wellust van minnaartjes-drift stortte uit, een kristalweb van zilveren trillers, en hoog in de lucht sloeg áán een golf, ’n zoet, zacht, rillend, weemoeds-deinend, jubelend, spartelend scherzo, klaar als tingelden en klingelden klokjes van kristal, eind’loos hoog in den hemel rond.
Dan stilte plots; ’t dierke, wèg in eigen jubel, de oogjes rood in zonnetoover, een takje lager huppelend rond wilgenzilver.
Van verre ruischte hevig-zacht nu, zangestem van aeolus uit serafientje, een ruischend gevloei van lichte aanslagwijsjes, héél roffelend-teer, in de diepte van andere keeltjes.—En sterker parelde ’t ààn, kristallen golfjes-ruisch in gouden zomeravondstilte.
Als in druisch van regenkristalletjes, stortten tegen elkaar in nachtegaal en merel, zanglijster en leeuwrik, zang en kweel van allen kant.
Sterfhymne aan de lente.
Uit hun donkre, grauwe nachtegaal-borstjes bleef klinken de snik van ’t minnen, ’t zoete lieven; door hun grauwe stille borstjes ging één
kramp van uitstortend jubelgeluk. En engelenkeeltjes filomeelden in zoeten jubel mee, hoog, van uit ’n hemelschen toren.
Avondschemer donkerde neer over de zoete murmelende landstilte.
Rond het laatste luchtenrood weefden de kristallen vogelengorgeltjes hun webjes van minnebegeerten. En donkerte rondom zonk uit, de schemer. Als zachte streken op violenkwint, fluweelstreelde, weende in ’t duisterend groen hun zanggekweel na. En als kinderkoortjes vèr, in gewijd lied, doorhuiverd van heiligen klank, tremoleerden terug, uit andere avondlijke schemerboschjes, broozer en reiner de vogelenkeeltjes, weenend van weemoed naar God.
[Inhoud]
ZOMER.
EERSTE HOOFDSTUK.
Zachte vlekjes rood, donkere en lichte purpering, schemerden tusschen de vèr-groene, lichtverstuivende aardbei-akkers, onder laag blad uit. Door veld en straatjes van Wiereland en Duinkijk, dampten overal geuren, kittelend-arômig en reseda-zoet, van aardbeivrucht; zingende aroma van jonge groenten en frisch-kleurige doppers. De grond, doordrenkt van pas gevallen regen, wasemde aardvocht uit, verschen grondgeur, als was er mijlen in ’t rond geploegd. De lucht koepelde in zilvering van wolken en zonnebrand. Overal op de akkers was druk jagend gezwoeg. Kerels in rooidrift, groeven de aarde op, voor zich uitwolkend damp en zandig stof. Hurkende grondwerkers en wieders stramden in buk en knieling, dat hun lijven radbraakten van hitte-uitputting en ploeter. Geuren zoete rook van pieterselie en jonge selderie, vloeiden áán uit den grond, woeien door ’t land, de tuinen, en alles zacht, kwam in bloei en ranken groei de aarde uitzwellen.
Grove werkershanden, verbronsd, verklauwd, aschgroenig van aardewroet, graaiden door het jonge leven, dat bevloeide hun vingers met sappen en aroma’s van al soorten teelt.—
Geldersche maaiers, in donkere kleeren, met klein zwarte hoedjes op ernst-koppen, stapten al vroeg uit de goudbevonkte paadjes, met zeis op den rug, den polder in, of havenkant òver. Langzaam in gebaar,
enk’len met uitgebogen beenen, de zenboomen vastgehaakt bij langen dol, ging hun rustig-rhytmische stap vlak langs het aanhittende akker- en havengewoel, streepte hun zeis-staal goudvlammen door de lucht, hoog, tegen prachtgroen van gras en boomen. [2]
En telkens weer doken donkere ernstige maaiers, zwijgend in stap, naast elkaar, stille, goudene weggetjes uit, laantjes met paars-zandigen grond, in zonnegloed kleurhoog verhit; vlamden boven hun donkere schouders de zeisen, als droegen ze verzonken in extaze-kijk, zonnetoortsen rond, door vrome stedeke-plek.—
In hoogen zonschitter en diepe luchtblauwing trokken de dagen één na één over de velden, met soms snikheete gloeiing, op middag-uren.
Drukker en woeliger werkjacht begon er áán te koortsen in Duinkijk, Wiereland en rondom tuindersen kweekersdorpjes.—
In de avonden, door de rood-goud doorzonde schijnsels als van brandende kathedraalglanzen, trokken van alle kanten òp, werkers uit verren omtrek, met karren vol kisten naar de haven van Wiereland, waar alles heen moest, in laten zomeravondzwoeg.—
In rateling bonkten en dromden de hoog-beladen karren en wagens door de stille straatjes, waar knussige renteniertjes in lieve voortuintjes, van dagsloof en arbeidje uitrustten. Laat dromden de kerelslijven áán, in zwoegenden hijgduw, zweet doorzogen en kreunend achter hun kleur-felle hoog
geladen vrachtkarren, twee mannen vooròp, met snoerende touwen over rugkromming gesjord, trekkend aêmechtig, doorvloekt van gramschap, van hevigen sjouw en woest spierzwellende inspanning.
Hun zweet-druppende gezichten gloeiden rood-brons tegen het zonnezinken in, den haven op; hun afgemartelde zweetlichamen verstonken in rottende plunje.—
Een volle werkdag lag al àchter hen; nu kreunden hun borsten achter d’r karren.—Angstig keken hun oogen uit, tusschen de breed-uitgestapelde sappige kleurweelde van hun geur-versch, jubelend groentegroen en pralend wortelen-rood, bang ergens tegen aan te bonkeren. Zoo, met hun doormodderde verzweete kleeren, doorstoofd van schroeiend zonnevuur, als wroetende dieren, besmet met korsten van grondvuil, doorzogen van zweet, uitgegrauwd van dag-zware ploeterramp, stapten ze tusschen hun fleurige kleurschaterende waar, boot [3]op, boot af, langs de haven. Van den polder uit woei zoelzoete hooigeur aan, en soms al, waggelden goud-matte wagens in langzamen stap van schonkig werkpaard, door de kleine drukke zomerdagstraatjes,—in hun geweldigen opbouw boven de huisjes uitzwellend, als versleepte duinruggen, mat goudgroenig nog van gras-verschheid.
Heete drang koortste rond, onder de landwerkers om elkaar vóór te zijn op de markt, met groenten. Enkelen, vroeg met wat bakken werkend, vervoerden in stillen trots wortelen en tuinboonen, en hier en daar stonden al wat mandjes met aardbei uit de zon, zoet
te purperen, zangerig rood, koester-diep karmijn, in al verspringende gloedtinten, van geranium-vuur naar dahlia-purper.
Ouë Gerrit was naar de grasveiling en ’t etgroen geweest. Hij had twee dijken hooi gekocht; te duur, veel te duur, maar ’t moest. Nijdig nou op zichzelf was ie, dat ie twee dagen lang daar geloerd had, om ’n kandelaartje, in de zaal machtig te worden. Z’n heele zaak had ie ’r voor vergeten. Zoo had ie op ’t end ’n veel te duur dijkbrok gekocht. Toch praatte ie zich in, dat ’t nooit goedkooper zou zijn gegaan, omdat ’r zoo bar prijzig weer gevochten was. De boeren en tuinders op de veiling hadden elkaar met haat en woeste afgunst, de hoogte ingejaagd, zoo erg, dat de landheeren lachten in hun vuistje, de bode listig knipoogde tegen notaris.
Voor tuinders nu ook, werd ’t vroeg hooien. Dreunvol en zwaar klonk er klomp-geklos overal. Druk gedrentel van blank-geschuurde, gloed-nieuwe en vuile klompen op klinkertjes, weerhalden.—Ouë en nieuwe karren verwemelden in gezwoeg met trekhonden, vermartelde, woeste, bloedoogige beesten, heen en terug van haven naar tuin.
En vròeger, iederen dag poerden de tuinders al op hun akkers, met zenuwjacht en koortsige werkdrift in de handen, niet wetend wàt eerst te doen, zóó, in woesten overvloed kwam groei van al soorten gewas op woekeren.
Iederen dag drentelde Gerrit ’n beetje mee op ’t land. Maar morrend giftten en bitsten Dirk en Piet tegen ’m,
