The ‘Otter-Man’ Empires: The Pacific Fur Trade, Incorporation & the Zone of Ignorance
The ‘Otter-Man’ Empires: The Pacific Fur Trade, Incorporation & the Zone of Ignorance
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“水獭人”帝国：太平洋毛皮贸易、合并与无知区
DOI：
10.5195/jwsr.2002.261
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发表时间：
2002
影响因子：
0.8
通讯作者：
J. D. Carlson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. D. Carlson
我认为，必须通过追溯其历史发展来理解国际政治--特别是全球化。当前的许多“全球化”现象都源于欧洲国家体系的扩张。因此，我对美国西北海岸进行了结构化的比较案例分析，并考察了它是如何被不断扩大的以欧洲为中心的国家体系所吸收的。我追溯了合并的过程，并开发了一种改进的合并模式，包括开发出一个超越“已知”世界的“无知地带”，作为促进合并行为(即探索、殖民、征服)的行动者的使能机制。除了文本分析，我还使用历史上的当代地图来“操作”系统扩张的各个阶段。这允许与合并过程有关的事件背景的跨时间比较，而不必在不同的案件中“锚定”时间框架；人们可以专注于过程而不是时代。我认为，不同文明之间的接触会发生重大的社会文化、政治和经济变化，而这些早期的变化在当前的国际关系和“现代”全球化文学中基本上被忽视了。很简单，游戏规则和谈判议程很早就确定了，远远早于大多数学者研究与全球化相关的过程。案例研究(作为结构化案例研究方法的一部分)表明，信息、神话和错误信息作为系统扩张的机制。首先，这正是因为存在着一个与客观现实无关的实现欲望的可能性的“无知地带”；如果一个人认为有黄金城市，那么这可能足以进行最疯狂的冒险。其次，高风险、高回报的行为会推动早期接触。这种早期接触往往是由远离“国家”组织影响的行为者进行的，并允许其他“非理性”行为继续进行。第三，重大的国家建设发生在合并之前。事实上，状态或状态的拟像往往正是由于与初次接触相关的激励转移或系统干扰而出现的。第四，相对系统地位是一个持续调节的过程。在被合并的外部领域，参与者通常在早期拥有更多的谈判筹码，但随着时间的推移，这种筹码会逐渐下降。最后，传统的国际体系观点需要修改；精致的世界体系方法提供了一种更优雅、更细致入微的方法。
I argue that international politics – and globalization in particular – must be understood by tracing their historical development. Many of the present phenomena of ‘globalization’ have their roots in the expansion of the European state system. Consequently, I undertake a structured, comparative case study analysis of the Northwest coast of America and examine how it was absorbed into the expanding European-centered state system. I trace the process of incorporation, and develop a refined model of incorporation, including the development of a ‘zone of ignorance’ beyond the ‘known’ world which serves as an enabling mechanism for actors promoting incorporating behavior (i.e., exploration, colonization, conquest). In addition to textual analysis, I also use historically contemporary maps to ‘operationalize’ the stages of systemic expansion. This allows cross-temporal comparison of event-contexts with regard to the incorporation process, without having to ‘anchor’ the timeframe across cases; one can focus on process rather than era. I argue that significant socio-cultural, political, and economic change occurs upon contact between civilizations, and that these early changes have been largely overlooked in current international relations and ‘modern’ globalization literature. Quite simply, the rules of the game and the agenda for negotiations are solidified rather early, well before most scholars examine the processes associated with globalization.The case study (as part of a structured case-study methodology) illustrates that information, myth and misinformation act as mechanisms for systemic expansion. First, this is facilitated precisely because there is a “zone of ignorance” where possibilities exist for desires to be realized, independent of objective reality; if one thinks there are cities of gold, then that may be enough to undertake the wildest of ventures. Second, high-risk high-return behavior drives early contact. This early contact is often undertaken by actors far from the organizing influence of ‘states’, and allows otherwise ‘irrational’ action to proceed. Third, significant state-building occurs prior to incorporation. In fact, states or simulacra thereof often arise precisely because of the incentive-shift, or systemic disturbance, associated with initial contact. Fourth, relative systemic status is a continuously mediated process. Actors in external arenas being incorporated generally have more negotiating leverage early, which declines over time. Finally, traditional views of international systems need revision; a refined world-systems approach offers a more elegant and nuanced means of doing so.