The Portuguese as System-builders in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries: A Case Study on the Role of Technology in the Evolution of the World System

Abstract

World system evolution may be viewed as a cascade of multilevel, nested, self-similar and Darwinian-type processes poised on the boundary between order and chaos that allows for innovation. A framework developed by Devezas-Modelski opens the door to conceptualizing globalization as part of that evolutionary cascade, and as a process of system-building of which the Portuguese enterprises of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries provide an illuminating case. Analysis is focused on two components of that cascade: the Portuguese long cycle, and the two (economic) K-waves and their related innovations. In this period preceding the Industrial Revolution, innovations focused on navigation and shipbuilding and formed the technical support for such activities. Quantitative analysis of empirical evidence on Portuguese expeditions and naval-military campaigns, the global network of bases, and of scarce data on the gold and pepper trades in this period supports the notion of long cycles and K-waves as system-building, and the more general conception of globalization as an evolutionary learning process.     

Records on Nationalist and Opposition Movements in Late Imperial Russia: The Police Fonds of the State Archives of the Russian Federation

This article examines collectivization as a crucial aspect of the Soviet state’s ambitious effort to “Sovietize” its postwar western borderlands. Given the enormity of this task, the state leaned heavily on local agitators to convince residents to join the farms, and to manage the farms and their workforce. This put heavy responsibility on local activists to get results, but it also gave them power. This article provides a microhistory of these dynamics in the Transcarpathian village of Bila Tserkva. Faced with a failing collective farm and increased state scrutiny in 1949, village activists blamed the local Jehovah’s Witness community for allegedly subverting a successful collectivization effort. In reality, religion provided convenient scapegoats for villagers and the state to disguise a broader indifference and animosity to Sovietization. This case study demonstrates that state control of its borderlands was limited and dependent upon locals for information and the projection of power.     

Internet Sex Ads for MSM and Partner Selection Criteria: The Potency of Race/Ethnicity Online

The explosive growth in Internet use by men who have sex with men (MSM) to find sexual partners has been noted in the research literature. However, little attention has been given to the impact of participating in this online sexual marketplace for MSM of color, despite race and ethnicity as frequently used selection criterion in personal ads or profiles. Six focus group discussions (n = 50) and 35 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with African American, Latino, or Asian and Pacific Islander MSM in Los Angeles, which included discussion of their use of Internet sites to meet or interact with other MSM. Men reported race and ethnicity as a pervasive and powerful factor in facilitating or derailing Internet-mediated sexual encounters. The racialized interactions that MSM of color reported ranged from simple expressions of race-based preferences, to blatantly discriminatory or hostile interactions, and often demeaning race-based sexual objectification. Experiences of rejection and a perceived hierarchy of value in the sexual market based on race had definite costs for these MSM using these online sites. Furthermore, the private and solitary nature of seeking partners online meant that there was little to buffer the corrosive aspects of those negative experiences. These online dynamics have implications for the power balance in Internet-mediated sexual liaisons, including sexual decision making and sexual risk.     

A Two-Question Method for Assessing Gender Categories in the Social and Medical Sciences

Three studies (N = 990) assessed the statistical reliability of two methods of determining gender identity that can capture transgender spectrum identities (i.e., current gender identities different from birth-assigned gender categories). Study 1 evaluated a single question with four response options (female, male, transgender, other) on university students. The missing data rate was higher than the valid response rates for transgender and other options using this method. Study 2 evaluated a method of asking two separate questions (i.e., one for current identity and another for birth-assigned category), with response options specific to each. Results showed no missing data and two times the transgender spectrum response rate compared to Study 1. Study 3 showed that the two-question method also worked in community samples, producing near-zero missing data. The two-question method also identified cisgender identities (same birth-assigned and current gender identity), making it a dynamic and desirable measurement tool for the social and medical sciences.