Publishing Nations: Technology Acquisition and Language Standardization for European Ethnic Groups

Sasaki, Yu

doi:10.1017/s0022050717000821

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Similar results obtain when the OLS is used. Compared to the estimates in Sasaki (2017), the magnitude of the printing press variable is small because only 27 of 171 ethnic groups achieved language standardization by 1900. The vast majority of cases occurred in the twentieth century.…”

Section: Propensity Score Matchingmentioning

confidence: 68%

Content with Failure? Cultural Consolidation and the Absence of Nationalist Mobilization in the Case of the Occitans in France

Sasaki¹

2019

Soc. sci. hist.

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Does cultural consolidation among ethnic groups lead to nationalist mobilization? Extant research in the study of nationalism suggests a tight connection between the two. My article addresses this question by operationalizing cultural consolidation through language standardization and by providing an empirical analysis. I argue that not all ethnic groups that consolidate their culture build institutions toward sovereignty and propose that cases that fail to invest in institutions make strong contributions to the existing framework in the literature. Following a brief survey on the Bulgarians as a case of successful mobilization, I document evidence from an in-depth study on the Occitans, a minority ethnic group in France, as a failed case. Findings from a process-tracing approach indicate that although the Occitans standardized their language by 1900, their leading intellectuals grew content became content with the situation and failed to make the next move. I contribute by operationalizing cultural consolidation and by introducing “institution-building” as a crucial outcome between cultural consolidation and state-building. My article suggests that decisions of ethnic elites matter to understand why some groups start nationalist mobilization.

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Section: Propensity Score Matchingmentioning

confidence: 68%

Content with Failure? Cultural Consolidation and the Absence of Nationalist Mobilization in the Case of the Occitans in France

Sasaki¹

2019

Soc. sci. hist.

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“…Dittmar (2011) showed that the diffusion of the printing press was significant in explaining European urban population growth between 1500 and 1800. Sasaki (2017) found that the timing of the acquisition of the printing press explains the great dispersion in the dates of language standardization across the regions of Western Europe. Dudley (2017) provided evidence that the date of publication of a country's first monolingual dictionary helps explain the timing of innovation in cities of the West.…”

Section: The Questionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Growth Impact of Language Standardization: Metcalfe's Law and the Industrial Revolution

Dudley

2021

SSRN Journal

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“…However, seeSasaki (2017), who focuses on the influence of the printing press in Europe on language standardization.…”

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confidence: 99%

Cash Crops, Print Technologies, and the Politicization of Ethnicity in Africa

2021

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What are the origins of the ethnic landscapes in contemporary states? Drawing on a preregistered research design, we test the influence of dual socioeconomic revolutions that spread throughout Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—export agriculture and print technologies. We argue these changes transformed ethnicity via their effects on politicization and boundary-making. Print technologies strengthened imagined communities, leading to more salient—yet porous—ethnic identities. Cash crop endowments increased groups’ mobilizational potential but with more exclusionary boundaries to control agricultural rents. Using historical data on cash crops and African language publications, we find that groups exposed to these historical forces are more likely to be politically relevant in the postindependence period, and their members report more salient ethnic identities. We observe heterogenous effects on boundary-making as measured by interethnic marriage; relative to cash crops, printing fostered greater openness to assimilate linguistically related outsiders. Our findings illuminate not only the historical sources of ethnic politicization but also mechanisms shaping boundary formation.

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Publishing Nations: Technology Acquisition and Language Standardization for European Ethnic Groups

Cited by 4 publications

References 87 publications

Content with Failure? Cultural Consolidation and the Absence of Nationalist Mobilization in the Case of the Occitans in France

Content with Failure? Cultural Consolidation and the Absence of Nationalist Mobilization in the Case of the Occitans in France

The Growth Impact of Language Standardization: Metcalfe's Law and the Industrial Revolution

Cash Crops, Print Technologies, and the Politicization of Ethnicity in Africa

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