Publication Type: Individual Paper
Abstract: Interracial Marriage and the Origins of the Boston NAACP, 1912-1927

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper studies the role of organizational networks in shaping the evolutionary dynamics of organizational populations. Building on social networks theory, we examine the influence of interorganizational networks on organizational exit rates by looking at the structural properties of the relational space in which organizations are located and the nature of their interaction over time. In particular, we look at the influence of two network mechanisms: the degree of fragmentation (or connectivity) of the larger organizational network field and the intensity of interaction (i.e., repeated ties) with the same partners. We situate our analysis in the Hollywood motion picture industry and trace the vital rates of movie production companies over the period 1912-1970. We found network fragmentation to reinforce density dependent processes, but tie repetition to moderate them. The results suggest the viability of a social network approach to the study of population ecology dynamics.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between the development of federal child labor policy and the developments within the U.S. economy from 1912 to 2002 from a historical materialist perspective. This was an exploratory, historical, policy analysis that employed the theoretical framework of historical materialism to provide insights into the ways that economic forces impact on the development of child labor policy. Historical materialism was relevant to this research because it provided the critical analysis that was necessary to adequately theorize about the broader context of the state and the economy as they impact the development of child labor policy. The significance of studying the historical existence of child labor and child labor policies in the United States was to dispel the myth that children have been protected under the law from exploitation.
The findings suggested that over the period of 1912 to 2002, a total of sixteen laws, with child labor provisions, were introduced into the Congress. The analysis indicates that legislation designed to protect children were actual provisions in laws designed to address a labor force in crisis. At points of intense pressure, capitalists were forced to concede to a labor force which was demanding work, standard working conditions and basic minimum wages. Despite this pressure, there is no comprehensive child labor law banning the use of children sixteen and below in the work force. The significance of these findings lies in the contradictions of American values towards the well being of its most vulnerable population.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Why were the Albanians in Kosovo targeted with exclusion in 1913, assimilation in 1918 and minority rights in the mid 1920s? I propose a theory of nation-building that highlights the importance of interstate relations over domestic factors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The period between the end of the Civil War and 1912, when the foundation of Columbia University’s journalism school brought journalism education into the national eye also saw the dawn of professionalization and professional education across many fields. American universities were first becoming research institutions. Men could work as paid reporters for the first time, and early calls for journalistic responsibility were heard in response to the Yellow Press. Several professions—medicine, law, education—used this period to link professional organizations to universities; to develop research programs; and to standardize curricula. These historical strands and professional parallels would seem to make this period perfect for journalism schools to be founded and to flourish, and indeed, this was the period of greatest optimism for the success of journalism education in the U.S. Though many of the early experiments had failed by 1912, Pulitzer’s donation to Columbia and the solid success of programs at the University of Missouri and the University of Wisconsin, gave advocates of journalism education reason to believe that it was the perfect way to turn the country’s ink-stained wretches into polished, thoughtful professionals who would further the cause of American democracy. However, these lasting starts may have been too late, and it is useful to think of journalism school as a sort of failed professional school—one that squandered the opportunities to develop that parallel professions took advantage of in this same period. This reassessment attempts to explain the roots of the scattershot development of professional education for journalists.