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The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.

The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.

The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.

In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.

While most West European nations were formed around pre-existing entities that could be called “countries” before the modern age, this was not the case in the Middle East. Some entities, like Egypt, did have a clear political and cultural identity before colonialism, others, like Algeria, did not. This chapter discusses the four states of the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, through the perspective of “country creation” going into and coming out of colonial rule. We can see here two “models” of fairly similar types of historical development, one showing a gradual process through a protectorate period to relatively stable modern nations, another through violent conquest and direct colonization ending in violent liberation and military and wealthy but fragile states. The article asks whether these models for the history of country creation and the presence or absence of pre-colonial identities can help explain the modern history and nature of these states in the Arab Spring and the years thereafter. Then, a more tentative attempt is made to apply these models to two countries of the Arab east, Syria and Iraq. While local variations ensure that no model can be transferred directly, it can show the importance of studying the historical factors that go into the transition from geographical region to a country with people that can form the basis of a nation.

Preservice teachers (n = 39) described their definitions of patriotism and to what extent they believed statements from The 1619 Project (2019) and The 1776 Commission Report (2021) were patriotic.

This study employed a mixed-method survey including open-ended prompts requesting participants’ descriptions of patriotism and Likert scale prompts asking participants to agree/disagree with deidentified statements from The 1619 Project and the 1776 Commission Report. In vivo words reflecting emotional responses to patriotism and the statements informed the categorization process in a second round of coding.

Four categories of patriotism definition were identified. Identified were relationships between groups’ conceptualizations of patriotism and whether statements from history narratives were viewed as patriotic.

This article contributes to the field by exploring the intersectionality of the concept of patriotism with competing narratives regarding the foundation and growth of the United States.

This research sought to understand better how readily managers choose action to change the status quo. Specifically, in experimentally manipulated ambiguous situations, I examined the effect of managers’ promotion and prevention focus on how much information they wish to review to help them choose.

I developed a novel experimental paradigm and applied it in a sample of 157 managers. Managers faced choosing action (change the status quo) versus non-action (keep the status quo), and I test under which circumstances they want to review more information that they believe will help them choose effectively.

The experiment showed evidence that (1) managers with a prevention focus want to review more information when they are trying to assure that they do not choose action erroneously; (2) managers with a promotion focus want to review more information when they are trying to assure that they do not choose non-action erroneously.

This research provides an original perspective on a managerial decision-making phenomenon. It goes beyond managers’ choice preferences to examine a practically relevant outcome of the process of deliberating about taking action to change the status quo.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility of analytical models, specifically the radial basis function method, Akbari–Ganji method and Gaussian method, in conjunction with the finite element method. The aim is to examine the impact of processing parameters on temperature history.

Through analytical investigation and finite element simulation, this research examines the influence of processing parameters on temperature history. Simufact software with a thermomechanical approach was used for finite element simulation, while radial basis function, Akbari–Ganji and Gaussian methods were used for analytical modeling to solve the heat transfer differential equation.

The accuracy of both finite element and analytical methods was validated with about 90%. The findings revealed direct relationships between thermal conductivity (from 100 to 200), laser power (from 400 to 800 W), heat source depth (from 0.35 to 0.75) and power absorption coefficient (from 0.4 to 0.8). Increasing the values of these parameters led to higher temperature history. On the other hand, density (from 7,600 to 8,200), emission coefficient (from 0.5 to 0.7) and convective heat transfer (from 35 to 90) exhibited an inverse relationship with temperature history.

The application of analytical modeling, particularly the utilization of the Akbari–Ganji, radial basis functions and Gaussian methods, showcases an innovative approach to studying directed energy deposition. This analytical investigation offers an alternative to relying solely on experimental procedures, potentially saving time and resources in the optimization of DED processes.

In describing these projects, the authors hope to encourage academic librarians and archivists to participate in, and even facilitate, similar work at their own institutions. Although both of these projects began in the library and included readings and discussions related to library and archival practices, the most generative conversations rapidly shifted from “how should the library handle these materials?” to “what might this institution do to reckon with its history?” When traditional library practices were de-centered and community perspectives were sought on the college archive, the authors were able to have more inclusive, authentic conversations about the college's history and future.

This case study explores two projects undertaken at a liberal arts college: a working group and a credit-bearing course intended to reckon with racist, xenophobic or otherwise harmful materials in the college archive. Both projects were informed by the authors' engagement with Tema Okun's White Supremacy Culture and guided by inclusive pedagogies and practices that participants had explored in workshops and within the context of the college's Engaged Pluralism Initiative.

The working group and the course underscore the centrality of relationships, trust-building and time to the work of addressing difficult histories. The “campus-wide conversations” the authors had hoped to have about the college archive evolved into smaller spaces developed with intention and care. The diverse perspectives of working group members and students in the course demonstrate the value of bringing together viewpoints from outside the library and beyond institutional or disciplinary silos, to consider far-reaching systemic issues.

Many US colleges and universities have begun, or will begin, to investigate the myriad ways in which racism, racial exclusion, or racial violence have marked their institutions and how these troubled legacies persist in the present day. This case study proposes possible approaches that academic libraries and librarians may take to contribute to this essential work.

These two projects propose that work that typically happens solely within libraries and archives (cataloging and description of potentially harmful materials) or within institutional or disciplinary silos (reckoning with legacies of racism and bias) can be discussed, debated, and shared among the campus community. All of the participants in the working group and the course, regardless of their title, role, or academic credentials, bring necessary expertise and experience to these projects. Inclusive practices, when paired with grassroots energy, suggest ways in which a college archive can be used as a site of evidence, reflection, interrogation, and repair.

This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological writing in the classical pluralist phase.

An intellectual history, including detailed discussion of key Fox texts, supported by interviews with Fox and other Biographical sources.

Fox’s radicalisation was incomplete, as he carried over from his industrial relations (IR) pluralist mentors, Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, a suspicion of political Marxism, a sense of historical contingency and an awareness of the fragmented nature of industrial conflict.

Recent academic attention has centred on Fox’s later radical pluralism with its “structural” approach to the employment relationship. This paper revisits his early, neglected classical pluralist writing. It also illuminates his transition from institutional IR to a broader sociology of work, influenced by AH Halsey, John Goldthorpe and others and the complex nature of his radicalisation.

This research explored the storytelling (collection, curation and use) in the Cabrach, a remote Scottish glen. This study aims to capture the methodological process of storytelling and curation of heritage knowledge through the lens of the Cabrach's whisky distilling history, a central part of the area's cultural heritage, tangible and intangible. This research was conceptualised as “telling the story of telling the story of the Cabrach”. It was concerned with how the history, heritage, historiography and testimony associated with the parish could be harvested, made sense of and subsequently used.

The study was epistemological in nature and the research was concerned with how heritage knowledge is gathered, curated and understood. It was built around the collection of knowledge through expert testimony from Colin Mackenzie and Alan Winchester, who have extensively researched aspects of life in the Cabrach. This was done using a series of theme-based but free-flowing conversational workshop involving participants and research team. Issues of trust and authority in the research team were crucial. Data were recorded, transcribed and coded. A conceptual model for heritage storytelling in the Cabrach was developed together with a transferable version for other contexts.

The research was conceived around identifying the stories of the Cabrach and grouping them into cohesive narrative themes focused on the most important aspect of the glen's history (the development of malt whisky distilling). The research showed how all crucial narratives associated with the Cabrach were interconnected with that malt whisky story. It was concerned with identifying broad thematic narratives rather than the specific detailed stories themselves, but also from a methodological perspective how stories around those themes could be collected, curated and used. It presents the outcome of “expert testimony” oral history conversations and presents a conceptual model for the curation of heritage knowledge.

This paper reports on research which focuses on the confluence of those issues of heritage-led regeneration, intangible cultural heritage, as well as how stories of and from, about and for, a distinctive community in North-East Scotland can be collected, curated and displayed. It presents methodological conceptualisations as well as focused areas of results which can be used to create a strong and inclusive narrative to encapsulate the durable sense of place and support the revival of an economically viable and sustainable community.

This conceptual model offers a framework with universal elements (Place, People, Perception) alongside a strong core narrative of storytelling. That core element may vary but the outer elements remain the same, with people and place being omnipresent and the need to build an emotional or visceral connection with visitors being crucial, beyond “telling stories” which might be regarded as parochial or narrowly focused. The model informs how communities and heritage organisations tell their stories in an authentic and proportionate manner. This can help shape and explain cultures and identities and support visitors' understanding of, and connection with, places they visit and experience.

The originality lies in two principal areas, the exploration of the narratives of a singularly distinctive community – the Cabrach – which plays a disproportionately significant role in the development of malt whisky distilling in Scotland; and also in terms of the methodological approach to the collection and curation of heritage storytelling, drawing not on first-hand accounts as in conventional oral history approaches but through the expert testimony of two historical and ethnographic researchers. The value is demonstrating the creation of a conceptual model which can be transferred to other contexts.

The conflict between institutionalism and neoclassicism in the 20th century has been investigated by scholars over the years. Many of them believe that in the postwar period, neoclassicism triumphed while institutionalism largely disappeared. The present chapter takes a very different view. The late 20th century represents a broad synthesis of neoclassical and institutional themes in a methodology we call pragmatic empiricism. That approach combines the mathematical model building and theoretical formalism of neoclassical economics with the institutional economist’s data-driven statistical analysis and concern for developing institutional forms. We use as a case study the history of American locational economics from the 1930s to the present. The mixing of institutional and neoclassical themes is quite evident in the work of three young scholars at Harvard who effectively initiated American locational economics. In the postwar period, we find a series of outstanding, well-published papers that capture the spirit of the “founders.” These papers do use more modeling, but they also focus on major institutional developments. A broader review of locational works is consistent with the pragmatic empiricism label. The history of locational economics supports the claim that institutionalism, far from disappearing, continues to provide fundamental questions and techniques for modern pragmatic empiricism.

The present study is about generating metadata to enhance thematic transparency and facilitate research on interview collections at the Research Documentation Centre, Centre for Social Sciences (TK KDK) in Budapest. It explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing, managing and processing social science data and its potential to generate useful metadata to describe the contents of such archives on a large scale.

The authors combined manual and automated/semi-automated methods of metadata development and curation. The authors developed a suitable domain-oriented taxonomy to classify a large text corpus of semi-structured interviews. To this end, the authors adapted the European Language Social Science Thesaurus (ELSST) to produce a concise, hierarchical structure of topics relevant in social sciences. The authors identified and tested the most promising natural language processing (NLP) tools supporting the Hungarian language. The results of manual and machine coding will be presented in a user interface.

The study describes how an international social scientific taxonomy can be adapted to a specific local setting and tailored to be used by automated NLP tools. The authors show the potential and limitations of existing and new NLP methods for thematic assignment. The current possibilities of multi-label classification in social scientific metadata assignment are discussed, i.e. the problem of automated selection of relevant labels from a large pool.

Interview materials have not yet been used for building manually annotated training datasets for automated indexing of scientifically relevant topics in a data repository. Comparing various automated-indexing methods, this study shows a possible implementation of a researcher tool supporting custom visualizations and the faceted search of interview collections.