RESEARCH Paper

Thirty percent of your grade in Sociology 181 is based on a short (less than 20 pp. typed, double-spaced) research paper that comparatively analyses the structures of a premodern world-system.Describe the main structural aspects of a particular premodern intersocietal system. Briefly characterize the main technological and social characteristics of the people you are studying.What kinds of interactional links are there between local and regional groups? Investigate information, intermarriage, trade, and political/military interaction networks and try to "map" these for the system you are studying. Are there core/periphery relations in the system you are studying? What evidence is there about the existence of core/periphery relations and their nature?Remember the distinction between core/periphery differentiation and core/periphery hierarchy.

If you choose a region for which there is a voluminous literature, narrow your focus to a fairly short time period (say 100 years or so). In no case should you try to cover more than 500 years. If possible, use archaeological, ethnographic and documentary evidence. Begin by describing the structure of your system at a single point in time and then move to a discussion of the dynamics of change. Discuss how the system you have studied fits in to the comparative perspective developed in the course. Why is the case you have studied interesting from the point of view of the comparative world-systems perspective? Can you suggest other world-systems that may be quite similar to the one you have studied? What are the implications of your case study for the concepts and theoretical issues involved in the comparative study of world-systems? What are the unique or unusually interesting features of the case you have studied?

Each student should prepare a short written statement that briefly specifies the location and time period of the world-system you plan to study. This should be turned in on Friday October 19. The final paper should be no longer than 20 typed, double-spaced pages. Your paper is due on Wednesday November 28.

Examples of studies of premodern world-system can be found in Rise and Demise (Chapters 7-9), C. Chase-Dunn and K. Mann (on the syllabus) and C. Chase-Dunn and E. Ermolaeva, “The Ancient Hawaiian World-System”

[http://www.jhu.edu/~soc/pcid/papers/14];

C. Chase-Dunn and T. D. Hall “World-Systems in North America:..” [http://csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/archive/papers/c-d&hall/isa97.htm]

C. Chase-Dunn and T.D. Hall  “The Chesapeake World-System” [http://csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/archive/papers/c-d&hall/asa99b/asa99b.htm]