David Ringrose, UCSD

“EUROPE JOINS THE WORLD: EUROPEAN CITIES AND AFFINITY NETWORKS
OVERSEAS, 16TH-18TH CENTURIES.”

         This paper uses the conceptual tool of urban networks to talk
about the ways in which a European presence changed or supplemented
existing patterns of urban interaction in a number of areas, especially
Mexico, Peru, the south Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean.  The paper
examines the limitations inherent in the "urban network" concept as a
tool for explanation because of its essentially descriptive nature.  It
also raises the possibility of using more personal "affinity networks" as
a way of understanding long-distance interaction.  While such "affinity
networks" or "affinity groups" operated through urban networks, they have
the advantage of being more focused on specific activities and on the
motivations of actual individuals.