Ethnography, Oral History, and Network Analysis of Trader Behaviors and Institutions in India, Kenya, and South Sudan

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Dr. Rahul Oka and Dr. Nitesh Chawla of the University of Notre Dame will investigate the causes, consequences, and complexities of trader behaviors and the effects of external forces (political stability, trade friendliness, and business opportunity) on trader network transformations in India, Kenya, and South Sudan. Using ethnography, oral history, and Social Network Analysis, they will develop anthropological research tools that are sensitive to temporal and spatial specificities but which are scalable, transferable, and predictive. The result will be a cross-culturally valid model of the effects of political connectivity and social networks on human behavior in economic exchange relationships that can be used to understand how different types of trader networks affect local and regional economies. The researchers will collect data on trader and political networks for a sample of 60 traders in India, Kenya, and South Sudan. Two methods will be used to collect and analyze the data: a) qualitative ethnography and oral history of individual traders and their relationships, and b) quantitative network analyses of these networks over 20 years. The combined analyses will enable a better understanding of how traders differentially placed politically maintain or develop their commercial activities and how these affect larger trader networks and economy. Findings from this research will improve theoretical understanding of the scope and impact of trader-politician alliances and their outcomes. It will also provide valuable tools for development efforts, specifically in assessing potential responses to external interventions in local and regional economies. This research will enable theory building within both anthropology and network science on the underlying causes and consequences of trade and its impact on societies. The project also will provide research experience for American undergraduate and graduate student through fieldwork, inter-disciplinary analyses, and professional presentations/publications, and establish a cross-disciplinary collaboratory between American and international scholars.