Sociology 122
Social Change C. Chase-Dunn Fall 2016
Twenty-five percent of your grade in
Sociology 122 is based on a short (less than 10 pp. typed, double-spaced) research paper that studies the
socio-economic structure of a premodern
world-system (see below). Describe the main structural, institutional and
cultural aspects of a particular premodern system of your choosing. Most world-systems are multicultural in the
sense that people who have different languages and cultures are linked together
in interaction networks, though there are exceptions such as the Hawaiin archipelago.
v Focus on a particular group of people or a particular human settlement (camp, village, town, city) and estimate the spatial boundaries of the bulk goods network, the political-military network, the prestige goods network and the information network of which this focal group is a part.
v Discuss
the question of core/periphery relations
(including core/periphery differentiation and core/periphery hierarchy) in
the system you are studying.
v Briefly
characterize the main technological and social characteristics and institutions
of the people you are studying. What kinds of interactional links are there
between local and regional groups? Take into account the focal group’s
relationships with other regions, its prior history, and contending interests
within the system. You should also discuss the nature of the settlement system in the world-system
you are studying. Be sure to include a bibliography with citations of the
information sources you use to study your world-system.
If you choose a world-system for which
there is a voluminous literature, narrow your focus to a fairly short time
period (say 100 years or so). Begin by describing the structure of the system
at a single point in time and then move to a discussion of the dynamics of
change.
Each
student should prepare a short written statement that briefly specifies the
location, time period and spatial boundaries of the premodern world-system you
plan to study. This should be turned in on October
3 along with the citations for three library sources of information you
will use for your paper. The final paper should be no longer than 10 typed,
double-spaced pages. Your paper is due on December
10. Please include a bibliography. The text itself is limited to 10 pages. You
may include maps and bibliography on additional pages.
http://www.irows.ucr.edu/workpaptoc.htm
IROWS Working Papers #2
and #4.
A premodern world-system is defined as outside the modern Europe-centered world-system. So anything before 1500 CE (AD) is fine, and after that year any region is ok as long as it has not been importantly changed by interaction with the expanding Europe-centered world-system.
Read the list of requirements above several times
during the period in which you are working on your paper and be sure to do each
of the things that are requested.
A Guide to Writing Research Papers: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html