Twenty-five percent of
your grade in Sociology 125 is based on a short research paper that studies the socio-economic structure of a premodern world-system (see below) or a
world-system of social animals. Describe the main structural, institutional,
spatial and cultural aspects of a particular premodern or animal system of your
choosing.
v Focus on a particular group of people 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 in the system
you are studying. Does core/periphery hierarchy or core/periphery
differentiation exist? Where is the core? Where is the periphery and the
semiperiphery?
v Briefly characterize the
main technological and social characteristics and institutions of the beings
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.[1]
Be sure to include a bibliography with citations of the information sources you
use to study your world-system. Start with Wikipedia
and Google Scholar, and go to the library
(you can do
this).
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 February 7 along with
the citations for two or three library
sources (not web sites) of information you will use for your paper. The
text of the final paper should be no longer than 10 typed, double-spaced pages,
not including maps and bibliography. Your paper is due on March 14. Please include a bibliography.
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 is fine, and after that year any
region is ok as long as it has not been importantly changed by interaction with
Europeans.
The study of an animal
world-system should include the settlement system, economy, hierarchy,
territoriality of a single species and its relations with other important
species with which interacts. It should include consideration of how social
behavior and social structural characteristics change as environmental
conditions change.
Read the list of requirements above several times while you are working
on your paper and be sure to do each of the things that are requested. The maximum
length of the text of your paper should be 10 pp. typed, double-spaced. Maps,
figures and references can take additional pages.
A Guide to Writing
Research Papers is at: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html
[1] An evolutionary perspective on human settlement
systems that defines settlement systems and settlement size hierarchies: “The role of ecosettlement systems in human social
evolution” C. Chase-Dunn https://irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows15/irows15.htm