Social Structure
Social Capital in World History: Lyon and Pittsburgh as Examples
Lyon, France, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are connected by the thread of social capital, or people power. This essay situates social capital as an non-financial asset possessed by people who have little wealth, but who use a variety of strategies to facilitate community improvements.
Construction drawing of a social housing high-rise in Duchère
This image shows the standardized framework of a social housing high-rise, dubbed une cité. These manufactured housing units were constructed quickly in French suburbs to accommodate a rapidly growing population.
Plans for Social Housing in France
Most of the new housing was constructed on cities’ fringes, or on adjacent farmland just outside the central city, by a quasi-public company known by its French initials SCIC (Société central immobilière de la Caisse des dépôts, or Central Real Estate Company of the Deposits and Consignments Fund
The mayor of Lyon, France drives a bulldozer to initiate construction of social housing
The headline reads, in English, “Aboard a bulldozer, Mr.
SOS Avenir Minguettes President Toumi Djaïdja in Lyon, France
Toumi Djaïdja (third from right) in Lyon, 1983. Source: Le Progrès photo archives.
Pittsburgh News Coverage of the Community Reinvestment Group
"PCRG challenges financial institution lending practices,” Pittsburgh, Dec. 22, 1993.
Pittsburgh Newspaper Article “Bank Gives Boost to Black Areas”
“Bank Gives Boost to Black Areas,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh, July 2, 1988.
Veritable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty
In the twenty-first century, we are used to post-Westphalian norms of inter-state equality and noninterference. These norms, however, did not apply to interstate relations between the Qing empire and its tributary states.
Analyzing Personal Accounts
Personal accounts, including memoirs, journals, diaries, autobiographies, and life histories, are important historical sources that help us understand the human condition. These are the stories we tell about our lives that usually portray a larger picture of a life in historical context.
Nisa, The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman by Marjorie Shostak
Made up of a series of analyses and personal interviews conducted by Marjorie Shostak, Nisa, The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman is an anthropological work about women of the !Kung tribe of the Kalahari desert in southern Africa told through the perspective of one individual, Nisa.