Diego F. Leal

Abstract

In this paper I develop a theoretical model to understand how liminal agents can act as cultural brokers that have the potential to make segregated networks more compact by means of bridging cultural holes. I first develop a critical perspective on liminality and cultural brokerage, always emphasizing that the capacity to span cultural boundaries is a socially learned skill. I then combine the principles of consolidation, influence, and selection to generate artificial societies with tunable levels of segregation across a bright symbolic boundary. After doing so, I simulate diffusion dynamics based on threshold effects in the context of relatively small societies. Results show that, due to their cross-cutting ties, cultural brokers are more effective than popular agents (agents with high degree centrality) or structural brokers (agents with high betweenness centrality) to diffuse an innovation widely. The interrelationships between culture and social network positions are discussed in the final part of the paper.

Simulation program

Click here to download: (1) the simulation program I created (requires NetLogo to run); (2) the model pseudo-code; and (3) A presentation I did at the 2017 International Network of Analytical Sociologists Conference explaining the model and its main results.

This chapter is available upon request. Please e-mail me at leald [at] mailbox [dot] sc [dot] edu

Liminality Across Borders: Migration Flows in the American Continent

Abstract

In this paper I develop an unprecedented description and explanation of international migration flows in the Americas in the second half of the 20th century based on the network patterns that sustain them over time. Using novel data, I provide a detailed historic account of these flows by focusing on the following migratory subsystems: Central America and the Caribbean, North America, and South America. Finally, I use network and migration theories, as well as exponential random graph models to explain the evolution of migration flows over time.

Code

Click here to access the appendix of this chapter. In the appendix you will find: (1) the code (requires R to run) to reproduce all the analyses; (2) all the necessary input data files; and (3) some interesting figures related to sensitive analyses, robustness checks, and goodness-of-fit tests.

This chapter is available upon request. Please e-mail me at leald [at] mailbox [dot] sc [dot] edu