Social Exchange Networks Research Articles

Survivance Strategies and the Materialities of Mashantucket Pequot Labor in the Later Eighteenth Century

Scholars in New England have long been puzzled by the mixed materialities of colonial period Indian homes. Variously interpreted as a strategy for survival, a reflection of cultural loss, or as representations of continuity and change, these sites and their assemblages remain undertheorized. This article focuses on three sites from the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Reservation in southeastern Connecticut, dating between the 1740s/1750s and the 1780s. By considering the differences among them, archaeologists can begin working toward new understandings of Pequot Indian survivance. That research pathway starts with a reconsideration of Indian work in the 1700s, in which household subsistence labor is distinguished from household surplus labor and labor products from labor time. This tactic allows for more in-depth, contextual studies of furnishings and foodways, in which the differences amongst site assemblages become clues to changing reservation ecologies, social exchange networks beyond the reservation, everyday household rhythms, and acts of “quiet defiance.”

Platform Logic: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Platform‐Based Economy

Digital platforms are not just software‐based media, they are governing systems that control, interact, and accumulate. They also solidify markets; that is, social networks of exchange that do not necessarily leave data traces, into infrastructure, that is, material arrangements of traceable activity. This article examines the forms of domination found in this digital platform model, and corrects some existing simplistic theoretical conclusions about digital platforms. It first provides a schematic overview of digital infrastructures of governance, and the attendant systemic mechanics they engender. It then argues that we need a more syncretic, interdisciplinary approach to the platform‐based economy. The shifting emphases of different academic disciplines in relation to digital platforms are only partially grounded in their different normative biases; they can also be attributed to use of different disciplinary lenses. The field of information systems management and design studies is chiefly concerned with direct, technical interplatform affordances and connections, and with providing observations of certain systemic attributes of digital platforms. Critical political economy, by contrast, mainly considers the emerging transnational, geopolitical formations of platform capitalism. The interplay between these different systemic mechanics is summarized and presented here in the concept of “platform logic.”

Do Birds of a Feather Vote Together, or Is It Peer Influence?

Why and when do legislators vote together on policy? Do legislators decide to vote similarly mainly because of social influence or similarity? I contribute to the literature by offering a social network theory of voting. It is argued that close social ties help to establish reputations and to aid the flow of information among peer legislators, leading to increased influence and increased rates of co-voting among them. I examine the relative effects of information exchange networks and social exchange networks on rates of co-voting, controlling for similarities among legislators. The data include legislative votes from 2010 to 2014 in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. The results suggest that social influence stemming from social relationships exert substantial effects on rates of congressional co-voting.

A Multi-Isotope Investigation of Human and Dog Mobility and Diet in the Pre-Colonial Antilles

ABSTRACTThe complex relationships between humans and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have a very deep and unique history. Dogs have accompanied humans as they colonised much of the world, and were introduced via human agency into the insular Caribbean where they became widespread throughout the Ceramic Age. It is likely that the dynamic interactions between humans, dogs, and their environments in the Caribbean were spatially, chronologically, and socially variable. However, almost no research has specifically addressed the nature, or potential variability, of human/dog interactions in this region. This study presents isotopic (strontium and carbon) evidence bearing on human and dog paleomobility and paleodietary patterns in the pre-colonial Caribbean. The isotope results illustrate a generally high degree of correspondence between human and dog dietary practices at all analysed sites but also slight differences in the relative importance of different dietary inputs. Striking parallels are also observed between the human and dog mobility patterns and shed light on broader networks of social interaction and exchange. Lastly, the paper addresses the possible utility and relevance of canine isotope data as proxies for inferring past human behaviours.

Standardization of Brief Inventory of Social Support Exchange Network (BISSEN) in Japan

This study describes the Brief Inventory of Social Support Exchange Network (BISSEN) as a standardized brief inventory measuring various aspects of social support. We confirmed the reliability and validity for function and direction of support and standardized the BISSEN. For Sample 1, a stratified random sampling method was used to select 5200 residents in Japan. We conducted mail surveys and responses were retrieved from 2274 participants (collection rate 43.7%). Participants completed a questionnaire packet that included BISSEN, suicidal ideation, depression, support seeking, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Sample 2 surveys for test-retest reliability were conducted on 23 residents at approximately two-week intervals. Participants were asked about gender, age, and BISSEN. First, we assessed the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct, convergent, and concurrent validity. McDonald's omega (.73–.92) and test-retest correlations (.78–.85) demonstrated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Depression, support seeking, and MSPSS were significantly correlated with all scores of BISSEN. The non-suicidal ideation group had significantly more support compared to the suicidal ideation group. Therefore, function and direction of support in BISSEN had sufficient reliability and validity. Next, we standardized BISSEN using Z-scores and percentile rank with respect to each 12 norm groups by age and gender.

Disaster recovery in the western Pacific: scale, vulnerability, and traditional exchange practices

On April 2, 2007, a 6-m tsunami struck Ghizo Island in western Solomon Islands, destroying two villages on the southern coast and killing 13 people. Despite experiencing a similar impact from the tsunami, the communities had very different recoveries. This article examines how the recovery was influenced by Melanesian practices of reciprocal exchange, known contemporarily as the wantok system. Our results show that as reciprocal exchange was practiced at larger organizational scales (e.g., community, regional, national), it generated dynamic and countervailing sources of resilience and vulnerability by biasing the aid distributed to each community. This biased aid allocation tended to favor individuals and groups more heavily integrated into the social exchange networks along which much aid flowed. Importantly, connection to or exclusion from these networks differs depending on organizational scale. This process reveals the importance of scale and cross-scale dynamics during the disaster recovery process. To mitigate the vulnerability of Pacific Island communities, it is vital that we identify sources of vulnerability and resilience as they face increasingly frequent disasters and are drawn into and become more reliant on larger-scale systems of governance for their recovery.

Employee eco-initiatives and the workplace social exchange network

The purpose of this study was to test a workplace social exchange network model of employee eco-initiatives in which high-quality relationships with the organization, the supervisor, and the coworkers, influence suggestions for constructive change toward the environment. Data were obtained from 449 university-educated Mexican employees working in the service industry. In contrast with recent research, we found that social exchanges with the organization and the supervisor were not linked to eco-initiatives, at least not directly, when controlled for social exchange with the coworkers. However, the results indicate that the quality of peer relationships mediates influences of the broader social and psychological context represented by the organization and the supervisor. These findings and their implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Social exchange: relations and networks

In this short paper, I review the literature on social exchange networks, with specific attention to theoretical and experimental research. I indicate how social exchange theory is rooted in general social theory and mention a few of its main links to social network analysis and empirical network research. The paper provides an accessible entry into the literature on social exchange.

Integrating Top-Down and Bottom-Up Adaptation Planning to Build Adaptive Capacity: A Structured Learning Approach

Climate adaptation planning provides an opportunity to enhance the adaptive capacity of stakeholders across multiple levels. However, reviews of standard top-down and bottom-up approaches indicate that the value of multistakeholder involvement is not fully recognized or incorporated into guidelines. Focusing on provinces in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea within the Coral Triangle region, we present a novel integrated top-down and bottom-up planning approach. Based on Participatory Systemic Inquiry the process involves three stages of workshops intentionally designed to promote social learning, knowledge exchange, empowerment and social networks among multilevel stakeholders. Stage 1 workshops engage government, nongovernment and science stakeholders at the provincial level to analyze sub-districts' vulnerability and design appropriate adaptation strategies. Stage 2 engages local government, non-government and community stakeholders within vulnerable sub-districts identified in Stage 1. Stage 3 combines Stage 1 and 2 stakeholders to refine adaptation strategies and design action plans for sub-districts. Evaluation demonstrated that different stakeholder groups' perceptions of community adaptation needs varied significantly, justifying the approach. In terms of adaptive capacity, the primary outcome for all stakeholder groups was innovative ideas, suggesting that social learning and knowledge exchange had occurred. Empowerment was a secondary outcome. We discuss how the approach could be further refined.

LITHIC RAW MATERIALS AND MODES OF EXPLOITATION IN QUARRIES AND WORKSHOPS FROM THE CENTER OF THE PAMPA GRASSLANDS OF ARGENTINA

Quarry workshops have an important economic, social, cultural, and symbolic role for past hunter-gatherer societies and the northwest Tandilia System would have represented a place of great cultural significance because human groups could have exploited a huge diversity of rocks and minerals. The main objectives in this paper are to analyze different exploitation, production, and use strategies applied on chert and silicified dolomite quarry workshops, and to interpret diverse ways of transport and circulation of these lithic raw materials from procurement areas to other sites in the center of the Pampa grasslands during the Late Holocene. The studies done suggest several modes in raw materials selection in quarries, reduction strategies, tool manufacture, and rock circulation in the landscape. It is proposed that both raw materials could have been transported from workshops to other sites in the form of nodules, different kinds of partially and/or totally decorticated cores, large flakes, and possibly tools. With the reduction of residential mobility in hunter-gatherer groups during the Late Holocene, the most exploited rocks in the center of the Pampa grasslands were those located nearest the sites, such as chert from the Sierras Bayas hills. Two procurement strategies (embedded and special trips by using logistical mobility) could have been applied on chert and silicified dolomite acquisition. On the other hand, human groups occupying territories far from quarries could have obtained them through social exchange and interaction networks.

Chert quarries and workshops in the Humid Pampa sub-region: New contributions on exploitation techniques and circulation through study of chaînes opératoires

The study of technological organization associated with hunter-gatherers groups has been one of the topics of greatest interest in the archaeological research of the Pampean region. In this sense, the aims of this paper were to interpret the role of the Cerro Largo Formation chert in the technological practices of human groups and to discuss how this rock was used and transported in the center of the Humid Pampa sub-region during the Late Holocene. We will present the techno-morphological analysis on chert artifacts recovered from Boca de la Sierra workshop in order to identify how this stone was used at the beginning of its exploitation. Then, we will compare and discuss diverse chaînes opérotoires on chert found in archaeological sites located at different distances from the sources. In Boca de la Sierra workshop, we recorded three initial forms of exploitation of the nodules. The Cerro Largo Formation chert had been transported from this workshop to other sites in the form of different kinds of partially and/or totally decorticated cores, nodules, large flakes, and possibly tools. In those sites located at a short distance from the quarry workshops (Empalme Querandíes 1 and Laguna La Barrancosa 2) we observed complete chaînes opérotoires organized through débitage, with low production of standardized blank and a high frequency of external flakes used as blank for the manufacture of different kinds of tools. In those sites located at a long distance from the quarry workshops (Laguna La Larga and Laguna Seca 2), we recorded chaînes opérotoires developed almost entirely. Even though some expedient tools are recorded, the greatest maximization in the use of Cerro Largo Formation chert is remarkable. The high proportion of standardized, small and shaped tools, the identification of exhausted cores, the use of a bipolar technique, and the presence of resharpening flake edges show a curated technological strategy. Finally, the presence of complete chaînes opérotoires close to the hills allow us to infer direct access to the outcrops and an easy acquisition of chert; whereas the features observed in the other sites indicate that the chert acquisition was done by specific trips or by social exchange and interaction networks with other groups.

Livelihood Diversification and Shifting Social Networks of Exchange: A Social Network Transition?

In the developing world, traditional social networks of exchange and reciprocity are critical components of household security, disaster relief, and social wellbeing especially in rural areas. This research asks the question: How are traditional social networks of exchange related to emerging household strategies to diversify livelihoods? Within this context, this study uses a mixed methods design to examine the character of inter-household exchanges of material goods (IHE) and the association between IHE and livelihood diversification, in ethnically Maasai communities in northern Tanzania. Findings show that IHE are both evolving and declining and are negatively associated with livelihood diversification.

Obsidian Sourcing at Ulilang Bundok Site and its Implications for Mobility, Exchange, and Social Contexts in the Philippine Metal Age

This article discusses the results of chemical analysis to trace the source of the obsidian artifacts from the site of Ulilang Bundok in Batangas, Philippines. The obsidian artifacts used in this study were excavated from the site of Ulilang Bundok while samples of obsidian were also collected from known obsidian sources in Nagcarlan, Batangas, and Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte, for comparative purposes. Chemical analyses of the obsidian artifacts and source samples were carried out on a scanning electron microscope using the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer at the University of Science Malaysia, Penang and the electron microprobe at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Multi-elemental analysis and statistical procedures performed on elemental data obtained from the obsidian artifacts and sources provided strong indications that the obsidian artifacts from Ulilang Bundok were made using obsidian obtained from the Nagcarlan source. The chemical sourcing results are significant in that they suggest that obsidian was a limited and valued raw material that was likely mined and traded through expanding social exchange networks. This has further implications for understanding how the complexity and spatial extent of trade reflects emerging social complexity in the Philippines Metal Age.

Social exchange networks with distant bargaining

Network bargaining is a natural extension of the classical, 2-player Nash bargaining solution to the network setting. Here one is given an exchange network G connecting a set of players V in which edges correspond to potential contracts between their endpoints. In the standard model, a player may engage in at most one contract, and feasible outcomes therefore correspond to matchings in the underlying graph. Kleinberg and Tardos [STOC'08] recently proposed this model, and introduced the concepts of stability and balance for feasible outcomes. The authors characterized the class of instances that admit such solutions, and presented a polynomial-time algorithm to compute them.In this paper, we generalize the work of Kleinberg and Tardos by allowing agents to engage into more complex contracts that span more than two agents. We provide suitable generalizations of the above stability and balance notions, and show that many of the previously known results for the matching case extend to our new setting. In particular, we can show that a given instance admits a stable outcome only if it also admits a balanced one. Like Bateni et al. [ICALP'10] we exploit connections to cooperative games. We fully characterize the core of these games, and show that checking its non-emptiness is NP-complete. On the other hand, we provide efficient algorithms to compute core elements for several special cases of the problem, making use of compact linear programming formulations.

Manioc Varietal Diversity, Social Networks, and Distribution Constraints in Rural Amazonia

Social exchange networks play a critical role in the maintenance and distribution of crop diversity in smallholder farming communities throughout the world. The structure of such networks, however, can both support and constrain crop diversity and its distribution. This report examines varietal distribution of the staple crop manioc among rural households in three neighboring caboclo communities in Brazilian Amazonia. The results show that the centrality of households in exchange networks had no significant correlation with the number of manioc varieties maintained by households. However, household centrality did show a significant correlation with households’ perceived knowledge of manioc cultivation as well as the total area of manioc they cultivated. Although households with the most knowledgeable and active producers played a central role in the distribution of planting materials and manioc varieties, they did not maintain higher varietal diversity than more peripheral households in this study. This case study represents an important example of how social networks can constrain varietal distribution and contribute to low crop diversity in agricultural communities.

Categorical Coherence or Sequential Consistency: Breach of contract in SME financing

Contracts are foundational components of economic and social life as they specify rights and responsibilities between or among parties in various exchanges. Although contracts have received substantial and sustained attention in economics, they have largely elided sociological investigation. This may be due to sociologists’ emphasis on substitutable mechanisms including social exchange or social networks and related structural features. In this research we study breach of contract in the context of SME financing using novel, hand-collected longitdunial data of over 450,000 SME loans (the entire population) made between 2002 - 2008 in one country. We propose theory that specifies how both the coherence and sequential consistency in contract enforcement style of a loan enforcement agent influences a loan recipient’s adherence to contractual provisions concerning payment. By proposing this theory and related empirical test we broaden the literature on categorical coherence by observing its applicability in direct exchanges rather than in mediated markets (Zuckerman 2004). In the process, we also provide a theoretical and empirical contrast of the effects of categorical coherence vis-à-vis sequential categorical consistency—two concepts that have yet to be distinguished, and which we show should be. Finally, by extending this line of sociological enquiry into a bedrock mechanism and artifact of economic exchange, contracts, we reveal the social dimension of their enforcement.

Marriage exchanges, seed exchanges, and the dynamics of manioc diversity

The conservation of crop genetic resources requires understanding the different variables-cultural, social, and economic-that impinge on crop diversity. In small-scale farming systems, seed exchanges represent a key mechanism in the dynamics of crop genetic diversity, and analyzing the rules that structure social networks of seed exchange between farmer communities can help decipher patterns of crop genetic diversity. Using a combination of ethnobotanical and molecular genetic approaches, we investigated the relationships between regional patterns of manioc genetic diversity in Gabon and local networks of seed exchange. Spatially explicit Bayesian clustering methods showed that geographical discontinuities of manioc genetic diversity mirror major ethnolinguistic boundaries, with a southern matrilineal domain characterized by high levels of varietal diversity and a northern patrilineal domain characterized by low varietal diversity. Borrowing concepts from anthropology--kinship, bridewealth, and filiation--we analyzed the relationships between marriage exchanges and seed exchange networks in patrilineal and matrilineal societies. We demonstrate that, by defining marriage prohibitions, kinship systems structure social networks of exchange between farmer communities and influence the movement of seeds in metapopulations, shaping crop diversity at local and regional levels.

Paleodiet in Late Preceramic Peru: Preliminary Isotopic Data From Bandurria

ABSTRACT The Preceramic occupation of Peru has historically received little attention from scholars. Recent excavations on the North-Central Coast of Peru have identified several large sites with monumental architecture dating to the Late Preceramic Period (3000–1800 BC). Monumental architecture and dense occupation at these sites indicates a degree of sedentism despite the lack of evidence for large-scale agriculture for comestibles and ceramic production. Questions remain, however, with respect to the nature of human dietary regimes without technological innovations that mirror agricultural modes of food production. This preliminary study uses stable isotope ratio analysis of human bones and teeth to assess the dietary regimes at the coastal site of Bandurria. Results support a marine-based diet for individuals sampled. These data are consistent with the maritime hypothesis which suggests that subsistence economy during the formation of Andean civilization relied on small schooling fish as the staple protein and was supplemented by C3 type carbohydrates (i.e., squashes, potatoes) (Moseley 1975, 1985, 1992; Shady Solis 2006a, 2006b). When isotopic data from Bandurria individuals are compared to data from Caral (Coutts et al. 2008), paleodietary inference suggests that marine resources were consumed in lower frequencies at sites further inland than coastal ones. These data may support a proto-horizontality model of social exchange between coastal and lowland areas during the Late Preceramic Period (Rostworowski de Diez Canseco 1975, 1977) reflected in the material markers of dietary resources, and further may suggest that coastal maritime-adapted polities were integrated into social and material exchange networks.

Violence in Non-State Societies: A Review

Anthropological sources on non-state, tribal societies offer a wealth of evidence on violence that can expand the spatial and temporal gaze of criminological research. Reviewing this literature allows for a more comparative analysis of patterns of violence and challenges contemporary notions of social change and order. This paper provides an overview of the most relevant anthropological evidence on patterns of violence in non-state societies. Specifically, trends and overall levels of violence, age and sex patterns as well as social and environmental factors are reviewed in order to determine whether contemporary concepts and patterns of violence are universal or culturally specific. The findings presented here indicate that violence in non-state societies is a ubiquitous but culturally varying phenomenon used by males and may be related to interdependent social organizations and networks of exchange.

Resource characteristics in social exchange networks: Implications for positional advantage

Despite the wide range of resources that traverse social networks, social exchange research has focused on only a narrow subset. Notably, prior social exchange research has not considered resources like information that have the capacity to diffuse through networks. The current study investigates how differences between the standard social exchange resource and an information-type resource affect the advantage provided by one's network position. Results of a laboratory experiment support predictions and offer two new insights to the foundations of positional advantage: (1) the location of advantageous positions in a network differs by resource characteristics, and (2) only in particular situations is a single position able to experience high levels of both power and exchange frequency.