Living In/difference; or, How to Imagine Ambivalent Networks

In a 1954 essay Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert K. Merton coined the term homophily to describe similarity-based friendship. They based their findings on friendship patterns among neighbors in a biracial housing project in the United States, using a combined quantitative and qualitative, empirical and speculative analysis of social processes. Since then homophily has become a guiding principle for network science: it is simply presumed that similarity breeds connection. But the unpublished study by Merton, Patricia S. West, and Marie Jahoda, which grounds Lazarsfeld and Merton’s analysis, and the Merton and Bureau of Applied Social Research’s archive reveal a more complex picture. This article engages with the data traces in the archive to reimagine what enabled the residents of the studied housing project to live in difference, as neighbors. The reanimation of this archive reveals the often counterintuitive characteristic of our imagined networks: they are about removal, not addition. It also opens up new imagined possibilities for a digital future beyond the hatred of the different and online echo chambers.

Genocide and the Hispanic-American Dilemma

The reasoning behind Hispanic-American colonization was that the indigenous people were rational vassals, who could be embraced by Christianity, and must, therefore, be protected and well-treated, though judiciously recruited to serve the interests of the Spanish Empire. Eyewitnesses and studies conducted on the Indian issue since the early sixteenth century found that the preservation-exploitation policy gradually became extremely destructive. Raphael Lemkin, in an unpublished study on Hispanic-American colonialism, was the first to call its damaging consequences genocide. The objective of this article is to explore the historical reliability of Lemkin’s controversial claim, and how it might tally with the Spanish Crown’s manifested caring approach toward the Indians. The study is based on a broad range of documents, many of them personal and unpublished until recently, making these sources highly reliable. We believe that the research will shed light on the historical dilemma of Hispanic-American colonization.

Credibility and Incredulity in Milgram’s Obedience Experiments: A Reanalysis of an Unpublished Test

This article analyzes variations in subject perceptions of pain in Milgram’s obedience experiments and their behavioral consequences. Based on an unpublished study by Milgram’s assistant, Taketo Murata, we report the relationship between the subjects’ belief that the learner was actually receiving painful electric shocks and their choice of shock level. This archival material indicates that in 18 of 23 variations of the experiment, the mean levels of shock for those who fully believed that they were inflicting pain were lower than for subjects who did not fully believe they were inflicting pain. These data suggest that the perception of pain inflated subject defiance and that subject skepticism inflated their obedience. This analysis revises our perception of the classical interpretation of the experiment and its putative relevance to the explanation of state atrocities, such as the Holocaust. It also raises the issue of dramaturgical credibility in experiments based on deception. The findings are discussed in the context of methodological questions about the reliability of Milgram’s questionnaire data and their broader theoretical relevance.

Océano en los mosaicos romanos. A propósito de un pavimento de Colonia Patricia[1].

Sin duda el carácter apotropaico de la representación de Océano influyó decisivamente en el protagonismo de su imagen en los mosaicos romanos, variando no obstante su papel en el campo musivo, como figura principal o secundaria, su propia representación, el tipo de escena y, en estrecha relación con estos aspectos, los miembros restantes de la composición.En virtud de estas características, se ha podido establecer la conexión entre mosaicos de diferentes áreas y, a este respecto, las influencias itálicas, orientales o norteafricanas en las representaciones documentadas en los mosaicos hispanos. En esta línea, es preciso destacar las peculiaridades que presenta un pavimento de Colonia Patricia, en concreto su composición y los miembros de su thiasos, no solo de carácter marino, de estudio inédito.ABSTRACTUndoubtedly the apotropaic character of the Ocean’s representation decisively influenced the prominence of its image in the Roman mosaics, varying however its role in the field mosaic, as main or secondary figure, its own representation, the type of scene and, in close relationship with these aspects, the remaining members of the composition.By virtue of these characteristics, it has been possible to establish the connection between mosaics of different areas and, in this respect, the italic, oriental or North African influences in the representations documented in the Hispanic mosaics. In this line, it is necessary to highlight the singularities that a pavement of Colonia Patricia presents, in particular, the composition and the members of his thiasos, not only of marine carácter, of unpublished study. Keywords: Ocean, roman mosaics, thiasos Colonia Patricia.[1] Este trabajo se inscribe en el Proyecto de Investigación de I+D+i “Patrimonio Arqueológico, Nuevas Tecnologías, Turismo, Educación y Rentabilización Social: un nexo necesario para el yacimiento rural (PATTERN)” de la convocatoria Retos de la Sociedad 2015 - HAR2015-68059-C2-2-R, financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO, FEDER, UE) y del que soy IP en la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

‘Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble’: Iron Age and Early Roman Cauldrons of Britain and Ireland

‘A man can live to 50 but a cauldron will live to 100’ – Old Kazakh sayingThis paper presents a re-examination of Iron Age and early Roman cauldrons, a little studied but important artefact class that have not been considered as a group since the unpublished study of Loughran of 1989. Cauldrons are categorised into two broad types (projecting-bellied and globular) and four groups. New dating evidence is presented, pushing the dating of these cauldrons back to the 4th centurybc. A long held belief that cauldrons are largely absent from Britain and Ireland between 600 and 200bcis also challenged through this re-dating and the identification of cauldrons dating from 600–400bc. Detailed examination of the technology of manufacture and physical evidence of use and repair indicates that cauldrons are technically accomplished objects requiring great skill to make. Many have been extensively repaired, showing they were in use for some time. It is argued that owing to their large capacity cauldrons were not used every day but were instead used at large social gatherings, specifically at feasts. The social role of feasting is explored and it is argued that cauldrons derive much of their significance from their use at feasts, making them socially powerful objects, likely to be selected for special deposition.

On the Operating Tightness of B16.5 Flanged Joints

The operating leak rate and tightness of a range of ASME B16.5 flanged joints [1] are calculated and compared for several gasket types, service categories and assembly methods. The methodology used includes proposed tightness based gasket constants and application of the basic principles of proposed new ASME rules for design bolt loads. It is straightforward and will be useful to those tasked with bolted joint tightness evaluations. The margin of bolt load available for joint relaxation is also examined. It is found that for modern graphite based gaskets, properly assembled joints have adequate tightness. PTFE based gaskets were not included in this study. This paper updates a similar but unpublished study presented several years ago.

The countering of overgeneralization

Commenting on Goldberg's (1995) ‘construction grammar’, Tomasello (1998) proposes a model of language acquisition in which children move from highly specific utterance–event pairings to abstract, verb-general structures. Despite their many strengths, models of this kind predict considerably more overgeneralization of the argument structures of verbs than seems to occur. In recognition of this, the paper explains (and supports with data from a previously unpublished study of 44 children aged 2;0 to 4;4) how processes which are side effects of the emergence of the verb form class could counter the overgeneralizing tendencies. It is argued that these processes are consistent not just with the model proposed by Tomasello but also (in large part) with the grammatical theory developed by Goldberg.