Democritus, the Prophet of Science

    Democritus was the prophet of science. His beliefs in atoms and reason that prevails over the senses proved over time to be a better test of knowledge than Sophist rhetoric or skepticism. The logos is not discoverable through rhetoric or opinion - those are a waste of time. The only true tests of empirical knowledge are available through logical deduction or science. All else is belief that is generally falsifiable through rhetoric. That's not to say arbitrary things like God cannot be proven to exist. If enough people claim to know or experience God, it should exist by some measure of certainty, even if it is inaccessible to the most logical minds. That is the most unfair paradox of philosophy, things can't exist without material representation. Does your imagination not exist?

Heraclitus and Parmenides

    A way to reconcile the opposing views of Heraclitus and Parmenides is through a third, Pythagoras. In his geometry, the monad is what Parmenides would describe existence as being "now, all at once, one and continuous... nor is it divisible, since it is all alike, but all is full of what is." The dyad is what Heraclitus would describe as "all things coming into being through opposition, and all are in flux, like a river... the way up and the way down are the same." Parmenides measures all by the source, Heraclitus measures all by the appearance of opposing forces. In the east, Parmenides would reflect a Buddhist position, while Heraclitus would reflect a Taoist one. But there is no need to take any position. All appearances derive from the source, so they are both correct. Both philosophers describe the primary geometric attributes of the cosmos in Pythagoras' mathematical religion: the monad and the dyad, working together to produce dynamic forces.

Social Media: A Constructivist’s View

The rise of social media in the last couple decades has spawned many issues, with some benefits as well.  Since it is a relatively new phenomenon, these issues have not been apparent until recently.  At the individual level, issues of privacy and the adverse psychological effects of it have been well-researched and documented.  But I believe its effect on society and international relations has not been properly realized yet, possibly because it has not been around long enough.  I will attempt to divulge these effects based on a constructivist viewpoint. 

Constructivism is a theoretical framework that helps explain international relations.  It posits that the identities and norms of a state play the most crucial role in its behavior with others.  Ideas, beliefs, and even languages can feed off social interactions in the nation to establish a political identity with its own set of behavioral parameters.  For example, the U.S. is uniquely equipped to respond to issues or the behavior of other states by its status as a wealthy, aggressive democracy.  Thus, it is more likely to negotiate or make alliances with similar nations due to their shared identity and interests.  Constructivism as a theoretical tool to explain international relations is a relatively recent one, not entering political science discussions until the 1980s.  Since then, it has evolved to rival the liberal and realist methods, which are more traditional and originated centuries ago. 

Social media has arguably become the greatest tool for individuals to affect the values of a state through constructivist modes than any other.  Its political impact cannot be understated.  As a threat to any authoritarian regime that does not regulate it, social media quickly became a megaphone for individual activism.  This happened during the Arab Spring, when a group of private citizens organized a Facebook and YouTube campaign to oust former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 2019:143).  Other groups in the movement were similarly mobilized by social media, though the extent to which it was effective is not agreed upon by scholars.  Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) have provided another vehicle through which social media can spread information about the crimes of an authoritarian leader and call people to action.  In 2012, Invisible Children, an NGO aimed at exposing the crimes of Ugandan leader Joseph Kony, released a video to Western audiences that went viral, effectively spreading awareness of it (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 2019:382), with the result of expanding protection and recovery programs in Uganda.   

In these respects, social media has a tremendous impact on reshaping the cultural identities of people in authoritarian nations.  Not only do they export awareness of human rights abuses to other states, but they import information about life in democracies they wouldn’t otherwise have access to, infusing new values and norms that would ideologically threaten their leaders.  This is likely why authoritarian regimes like North Korea, China, Iran, and Thailand have either banned or regulated social media use in their countries (Comparitech, 2021).  The leaders in these countries understand how powerful a tool it is for individuals and NGOs to extend their influence, threatening their power like it did to states in the Arab Spring.   

What is not often understood is the reverse effect social media has on democracies, which can also pose a threat to their existence.  Populism has recently resurfaced around the world, mostly in democracies where social media is unregulated.  These movements combine fervent nationalism with a type of resistance to established institutions involving the use of social media as an alternative to mainstream news, which they associate with elitists in the political order (Flew, Iosifidis, 2019).  Significantly, they can attract many more people than traditional media can because of the mass cultural appeal of social networking.  They also allow exponential interaction compared to traditional media, because news stories, videos, and tweets that go viral can be shared at ultra-high rates across the globe.  Furthermore, most social media apps are free, attracting many users who are disenchanted with the political state of their nation, regardless of whether it is a dictatorship or democracy. 

Social media creates a fertile breeding ground for populism because people are easily able to channel their anger through it.  This has been compounded by the recent news of Facebook’s algorithm, where posts with anger as the most common reaction were five times more likely to appear higher in news feeds than others (Merrill, Oremus, 2021).  To make matters worse, many of the news stories that inflame people are not even real.  The writers of fake news seek to profit from the prolific sharing of misinformation, manipulating social values in alarming ways, like the way propaganda does when misinformation is spread by a government.  This creates a recipe for tremendous social upheaval, accentuating the norms and values of all groups of people- but mostly the disenchanted masses, who are more likely to be uneducated and thus more vulnerable to the spread of misinformation.  Social media does not encourage calculated, rational debate as it does on mainstream news, where journalistic integrity is at stake.  Rather, it magnifies an irrational public mood that is shaped and reinforced by narrow worldviews (Flew, Iosifidis, 2019).  It takes things a step further by allowing people to interact “in isolation with those who already think what we think” (Sunstein, 2009).  When political emotions become mobilized by social media, they influence a pool of radicalized users whose social identities are unwittingly reinforced by the platform they are using.  Populist leaders can then use it to their advantage by posting hateful, conspiratorial, or controversial comments, inciting radical reactions to their grandiose claims.  Flew and Iosifidis (2019) state that Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and the election of Bolsanaro in Brazil in 2018, are all thought to have been populist movements fueled by radical claims or fake news on social media: “In parallel with Trump’s sensational victory, the vote for Brexit was secured in what has been dubbed the era of ‘post-truth politics’ largely based on fake news, the misuse of statistics and appeals to emotion rather than policies and facts”.  Thus, we can imagine the full range of social media’s effect on constructivist identities: that just as authoritarian regimes are threatened by the greater public exposure it creates, democratic regimes open to free speech can become threatened by the distorted views of would-be dictators.   

While social media does spread valuable information and ideas that can benefit humanity, including those about climate change, migration, and other hardships in addition to dictatorships and human rights abuses, it also does the opposite by institutionalizing the use of disinformation to further the agendas of profiteers.  The overall effect this has on the future of national identities is that authoritarian regimes may shift toward more democratic norms, while democracies may shift toward more authoritarian ones.  Since constructivism is defined by the fluidity of identities, norms, and values, social media provides one of the greatest tools for social transformation ever conceived.  

The debate now is over whether social media serves the public and should therefore be nationalized as a public utility with more regulation.  In the U.S., this proposition may run into trouble with the first Amendment, which establishes freedom of speech so long as it does not endanger others.  But at what point does unregulated social media produce enough disinformation that it would pose a risk to democracy, requiring an exception to the first Amendment?  On January 6th, 2021, the most influential democracy in the world was threatened by a mob of radicalized protestors, an event that was largely coordinated through social media.  Free speech has its limits, and we may be overdue for a new one.  I am more in favor of the stricter regulation of social media and not full censorship, because it is important to limit the spread of disinformation while supporting the spread of true information.  An international agency that would enforce penalties for fake news on social media platforms is an excellent way to protect people from the damaging effects of disinformation.  If states got involved by writing laws to protect people from it, this may ensure that the companies who created the platforms are conducting proper regulation of user activity themselves.  Just as authoritarian nations regulated social media use, so too must democracies if they want to stay strong.  This is a primary constructivist dilemma we are facing in the world, where national identities can so easily be reshaped by new technological developments like social media. 

 

References: 

Bischoff, Paul.  2021. “Internet Censorship 2021: A Global Map of Internet Restrictions.”  Comparitech.com.  Retrieved November 17, 2021, https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/internet-censorship-map/ 

Flew, Terry, Petros Iosifidis.  2019. “Populism, Globalisation, and Social Media.”  SAGE Journals.  Retrieved November 17, 2021, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1748048519880721 

Mingst, Karen A., Heather Elko McKibben, Ivan M. Arreguin-Toft.  2019.  Essentials of International Relations, 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 

Merrill, Jeremy B, Will Oremus.  2021. “Five Points for Anger, one for a “Like”: How Facebook’s Formula Fostered Rage and Misinformation.”  Washington Post.  Retrieved November 17, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/26/facebook-angry-emoji-algorithm/ 

Sunstein, Cass R.  2009.  Republic.com 2.0.  Princeton: Princeton University Press. 

International and Nongovernmental Organizations

    I think international organizations (IGOs) form for many reasons.  One is to hold states accountable for violating international laws or abusing their power.  For example, one of the reasons for forming the League of Nations, and its successor the U.N., was to prevent aggression between members, helping to establish collective security among nations (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 324-325).  Another reason is that states tend to function better when they are part of a cohesive unit, especially in our modern age with the kind of technology we have.  For example, the E.U. makes it easier for business people to operate between countries by allowing faster travel, a common currency, and special trade agreements (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 341-342).  IGOs can also help stabilize smaller states that depend more on others to function well.  

    IGOs are units of states that cooperate together under an international system.  Their roles include providing security and making it easier for states to interact.  But perhaps their greatest role is helping states establish a position on foreign policy.  By aligning with others, states gain a better national identity as they adopt collective strategies for defense, transportation, and trade.   Other purposes of IGOs are to "develop procedures for making rules, settling disputes, and punishing those who fail to follow the rules"  (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 323).  These functions ensure that states are acting in accord with the international system agreed upon.

    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) consist of individuals and not states.  They form to address the ever-increasing number of issues among social groups in our democracies.  Most of these organizations represent a specific social group, but many others work in the best interest of the public good (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 353).  Though NGOs work more in the interest of social groups, many work on international peacekeeping missions and public health, such as the Red Cross and the Peace Corps.  Like IGOS, NGOs work to advocate policies for the public good, often by monitoring human rights and assisting in disaster relief.  A difference between them is that since IGOs involve states, they offer more security to member nations than NGOs can. 

    Realists tend to undervalue the impact IGOS and NGOs have on international politics (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 360).  Even those who recognize the impact of IGOs aren't likely to recognize the same for NGOs, since they aren't organizations that involve states.  Realists may be correct in positing that NGOs have a less powerful voice than IGOs, but just because that's true doesn't mean they aren't relevant.  NGOs can have a powerful affect on international relations by encouraging policy changes in the democracies they operate under.  I would say their power is increasing as democracy reaches more places in the world.  Globalization and media coverage have also given NGOs a megaphone to push their agendas from.

    This is why liberals view IGOs and NGOs as necessary to expanding the public conscience on critical issues.  They see them as having the power to encourage collective action through various means, such as activism, education, and public debate.  I feel like this is more accurate than the realist perspective, because people can become radicalized by ideologies that are pushed by NGOs, like Al Qaeda.  9/11 was arguably the biggest political event of the last 20 years, and it it was caused by a NGO.

    Constructivists see IGOs and NGOs as key contributors to the socialization of states through their evaluation of norms.  As state participants learn the values of norms, they also shape norms by participating.  Constructivists warn that some organizations can become dysfunctional if they act "contrary to the interests of their constituency" (Mingst, McKibben, Arreguin-Toft, 362).  They would probably cite the failure of the League of Nations as the failure to act in the collective interest of keeping German aggression at bay.

Source:

Mingst, Karen A., McKibben, Heather Elko, Arreguin-Toft, Ivan M. Essentials of International Relations, 8^th ed. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Canada

Print Geography: How Printing Revolutionized Modern Capitalism

History is rarely as simple as it appears.  Things develop that are not always apparent from the circumstances of any given time.  In the Renaissance, the fast-paced nature of our capitalist society was not remotely present.  Businesses were generally unable to transcend their location, let alone their country.  In the 16th and 17th centuries, a gradual shift occurred as nationalism gained strength and markets expanded.  Explaining this shift is an interest to many social scientists, not just historians.  My position is that the invention of the printing press revolutionized the way people did business by allowing them to operate more efficiently, and by expanding their trade parameters.  This will be shown by examining the impacts on business by the printing press, the evolution of market economies after its invention, and the institutionalization of what I call print geography. 

Sociologist Max Weber believed modern capitalism resulted from the Protestant work ethic; that by submitting to the divine will of God through devotional work, prosperity became a spiritual measure of one’s worthiness1.  He believed its dissemination through Europe aspired people to work harder, seek more land, and spark innovation- all necessary hallmarks for the transformation of capitalism at the time.  Yet there was another force that disseminated through Europe before the Protestant Reformation: the printing press, invented around 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg.  Historians generally agree that the invention of the movable type was the most important invention during the Renaissance2.  Its mass reproduction allowed humanists and other scholars to widely distribute their ideas to large segments of the population. While it is widely agreed that it revolutionized communication and the spread of knowledge3, the idea that printing created modern capitalism is largely absent from the historical literature.  This could be because the birth of capitalism is more of a sociological or economic issue, yet the events leading to it are historical in nature, making it important to interpret in the context of history.  At the very least, the issue can be observed from the full context of the social sciences, involving all these disciplines, including geography, which I will touch on in a bit. 

Historians, economists, and sociologists are generally unconcerned with whether the printing press’ predating of the Protestant Revolution was the prime mover of Weber’s shift in consciousness; rather, the main debate is over whether the Protestant Revolution would have been as robust without it.  Jared Rubin, an economist, found a strong connection between locations that had printing presses and those that were friendly to the Reformation4.  Martin Luther, the primary writer of the Reformation, was the most popular writer of his time, suggesting that if the printing press had not been invented, his ideas would not have reached as wide an audience.  Other historians believe the Reformation was inevitable due to the shortcomings of the Catholic Church; that whether or not the printing press had been invented, reformist ideas would have spread through northern Europe, however slowly.  Yet Luther himself claimed in 1522: “I did nothing; the Word did everything”5.  Was he referring to the word of God or his own?  Either way, he must have seen the power this invention had in spreading his message.  I am inclined to agree with Rubin and Luther that the Reformation would not have been as widespread without the printing press, though I also agree with conventional historians that it would have happened anyway, just at a slower pace. 

My argument is that the printing press would have created modern capitalism despite the Reformation and Weber’s thesis.  An increase in business education; improved efficiency for cities, banks, and accountants; the rapid spread of knowledge it provided; and a social institution which I call print geography, were all products of the printing press that increased profit margins during and after the Renaissance.  Geography and exploration, in turn, opened the door for many capitalist developments, such as the increased trade of exotic goods, resource exploitation, slave labor, and colonization (with the intent to claim property).  The printing press also created new opportunities in advertising and increased efficiency for capitalists.  My intent is to challenge what Max Weber thought of as the primary motivating force behind modern capitalism; that it wasn't primarily the Protestant Ethic that generated a drive for material wealth, but the printing press that made it easier to accumulate. 

First, we must define modern capitalism, for people have had capitalist ambitions since the dawn of civilization, and it is not clear where a line can be drawn between its mercantile origins and its modern form.  Weber defined modern capitalism as formal, calculative rationality6, supported by a framework of markets, systems of credit, investment opportunities, and financial institutions.  Such a transformation during the Renaissance would have led to the development of nation-states that were intimately tied with economic development, expedited by the exploration of new continents at the time.  "The great expeditions and acquisitions of land were, in general, undertaken by... Conquistadors, entrepreneurs, captains, adventurers, and merchants who combined the military with the commercial"7.  Commercial traffic in transfers and bills of exchange were needed to regulate expanding national territories that were facilitated by a growing number of banks.  Modern capitalism embodied all these elements, consolidating them into national mandates of economic supremacy. 

These new exchanges would have required prolific amounts of paperwork as bureaucracies evolved to facilitate international trade.  This would not have been possible without the growing number of printing presses, particularly in European ports that had ready access to transportation across the Atlantic Ocean.  One of the few economists to have written about the connection between printing and business, Jeremiah Dittmar found that between 1500 and 1600, cities with printing presses grew at least 60 percent faster than cities without them8, reflecting a broader trend based on improvements in business practice and education that the printing press established.  Print media improved skills, knowledge, and innovative practices that were valuable in commerce, especially when it came to numeracy, education, and the adoption of double-entry bookkeeping9.   "Commercial arithmetics were the first printed mathematics textbooks and were designed for students preparing for careers in business"10.  The rise of printed books reduced the cost of obtaining information for businesses, providing “…tables that simplified that calculation of interest on loans, tariffs, and transport costs"11.  Portugal was the first European state to significantly expand its territory via exploration.  Gaspar Nicolas, who wrote the first Portuguese book of arithmetic for commerce, stated in 1517 that he was printing his book because it was entirely necessary for the state to do transactions with the merchants of faraway places like India, Persia, and Ethiopia12.  Commercial institutions also required paperwork in the form of accounting and legal documentation13, strengthening the connection between print and commerce. 

Another way in which the printing press expanded business was by allowing for the evolution of print advertising, where ads could be produced en masse for distribution to many people.  Though this did not appear to have fully developed until the 18th century, the earliest records of print advertising date all the way back to the 1470s, when William Caxton wrote the first advertisement in the English language14.  The idea of gaining exposure to a product through print advertising would have gathered strength from that moment on.  Perhaps more relevant to Renaissance printing is the greater exposure that merchants had following its invention, particularly for artisans.  “Printed publicity, skillfully exploited by new academies, expanded markets- not only for art works, but also for books about artists and their works"15.  A primary example of this was The Divine Michelangelo: The Florentine Academy’s Homage on his Death in 156416, demonstrating one way that printed books drew audiences to an artist’s works. 

The quick spread of information offered by the printing press was yet another way capitalists took advantage of the new technology.  In market economies, those who receive news the fastest are usually the first to profit more from the buying or selling of shares.  According to Oldest.org17, the oldest newspapers in history date from the early 17th century, which were mostly German and Dutch.  It may be no coincidence that the Dutch had the first stock market, considering how much faster information could become available to them by printing.  Put simply, printing allowed news to travel faster, making trade in stocks more appealing, thus creating a novel opportunity for capitalists to increase wealth.  The speed of information would also have benefited small businesses, who would have been better able make adjustments based on news coming from distant places. 

The most significant contribution of printing to capitalism came in the form of maps.  To my knowledge there is not an established academic term for this, so I have used print geography to explain the interaction.  The idea framing this is that national boundaries were facilitated by market economies that wanted to expand by using colonialism, thus beginning the age of globalization.  Globalization is notorious for benefiting capitalists in many ways; virtually all the concepts used to describe modern capitalism are shaped by it.  Maps and printing were especially valuable when it came to communicating the findings of explorers in the New World, where resources were so abundant that the mass distribution of information about them could most efficiently be relayed by the printing press.   

Amerigo Vespucci, the first explorer who knew he had found a new continent, spread the news of his discovery through the printing press18.  Gradually through the 15th & 16th centuries, Ptolemy’s Geography, which had stood as the primary source of navigation for centuries, became supplanted by a succession of newer, more accurate atlases that reflected a true model of the globe19 by incorporating Vespucci’s continents.  In cartographer Diego Ribeiro's Padron Real20, the first detail of the New World was printed on a map that was secretly distributed to Spanish ships.  The Spanish used his maps to gain a significant advantage over other European states in expanding their territory during the 16th century.  As the century wore on, other states, especially the Dutch, would come to see the value of maps in expanding territory overseas.  Printed news maps had the effect of fueling nationalist solidarity and sparking participation in global trade and domestic investment projects21.   

This nationalist solidarity, in addition to the strengthening of vernacular languages that printing commanded, created a related institute called print capitalism, coined by Benedict Anderson in 1983. "Print capitalism was a form of business enterprise that not only shaped and circulated culture, but a part of capitalist production…He (Anderson) introduced the idea… To show how a specific form of capitalist enterprise supported the development of national languages and communication within them"22.  Print capitalism and print geography are mirror institutions fueled by nationalist solidarity, which had the effect of creating enormous incentives for states to nationalize their markets. 

No state was more fertile for these developments than the Dutch, where map publication and distribution was part of its preeminent rise as the one of the first capitalist nations23, leading them to build the first stock market in order to galvanize far-reaching enterprises.  The advantage of having maps was that they combined a wealth of information from navigational and military sources, including natural resources, boundaries, ethnographies, and human settlements24.  Land became a commodity that was delineated, bought, sold, or exchanged for its productive value.  Sutton25 stresses how the modern state and capitalist economies were woven together by bureaucratic institutions that needed documents to regulate trade, record information about it, and report it.  Maps were part of the printed paperwork needed to operationalize the new system.  Combined with print capitalism, maps provided a rich source of information by which small businesses could expand into large partnerships and corporations.  

Some side effects of the geographical aspect of printing also helped businesses and capitalists, particularly when it came to trade in exotic goods, acquiring resources, and slave labor.  There was enormous competition to claim land in the New World because states knew how important it was to reap the benefits of it by getting there first.  Colonization became a key contributor to the economic expansion of 16th century empires, lending further value to maps and their distribution by the printing press.  This is what makes print geography so compelling- that without it, the coordination needed to introduce something as economically transformative as the Atlantic slave trade would not have been possible. 

The printing press created a new system of capital whereby businesses and traders benefited from evolving bureaucratic institutions.  The production of maps, financial records, advertisements, and reports were all accelerated by this technology, adding individual pieces to the puzzle that became modern capitalism.  The predating of the Reformation and the Protestant Ethic by the printing press meant that the source of these developments was technological and not spiritual.  Even if the Reformation had occurred without the printing press, it would have happened at a much slower pace, making the acceleration of each of these developments slower in return, effectively blunting any accumulated wealth for capitalists. 

My argument is important because I believe we are seeing a similar shift in production after the rise of the Internet.  Profits are soaring for capitalists even more, who benefit from high-speed trading, faster communication, and more globalized networks.  There may have even been an intermediate second phase in the 19th century, with the advent of electricity and the Industrial Revolution along with it.  Globalization seems to have now entered a third phase, where the fruits of the printing press and electricity are being joined by the computer.   

It is important to look at the social impacts that revolutionary technology like this has on the world.  Weber was right in one regard; that as society becomes more rational, we become more alienated inside our “iron cages”, paradoxically constraining the spirit as it praises hard work, prosperity, and individualism.  Nothing appears more rational to me than the advancement of technologies that propagated the capitalist system.  I believe this is the greatest impact the Renaissance had on today’s world, and that is why I chose to research it. 

Bibliography 

 

Primary sources: 

Caxton, William.  Sarum Ordinal.  London, England, 1476-1477. 

Florentine Academy.  The Divine Michelangelo: The Florentine Academy's Homage on His Death in 1564.  Florence, Italy, 1564. 

Gaspar, Nicolas.  Tratado da Pratica d’Arismetica.  Lisbon, Portugal, 1517. 

Ribeiro, Diego.  Padrón Real.  Spain, 1527. 

 

Secondary Sources: 

Appelrouth, Scott, and Laura Desfor Edles.  Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory, 3rd edition. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2016. 

Brotton, Jerry.   The Renaissance: a very short introduction. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press, 2006.  

 Calhoun, Craig. “The Importance of Imagined Communities-and Benedict Anderson.”  Debats Journal on Culture, Power and Society 1 (2016): 11-16. 

Dittmar, Jeremiah.  “Information technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press”.  Quarterly Journal of Economics 126, no. 3 (2010): 1133-1172. 

Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The printing press as an agent of change: communications and cultural transformations in early modern Europe, volumes I and II.  Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1979. 

Kocka, Jürgen. Capitalism: a short history.  Translated by Jeremiah Riemer.  Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. 

 “Oldest Newspapers in the World.”  Oldest.org.  Accessed November 13, 2021. https://www.oldest.org/artliterature/newspapers/ 

Rubin, Jared.  “Printing and Protestants: Reforming the Economics of the Reformation”.  European Economics: Political Economy and Public Economics (2011). Accessed November 13, 2021.  https://ssrn.com/abstract=1742523  

Sutton, Elizabeth. Capitalism and cartography in the Dutch Golden Age.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015.