CLASS-BASED SOCIAL NETWORKS IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

Does a village’s location in a regional economic system predict the extent to which close interpersonal relationships are based on socioeconomic similarity? A comparison of sample social networks of four frontier villages in northwest Ecuador showed that village centrality influences the dominant types of social relationships and, thus, the differential tendencies for socioeconomic differentiation. Compared to residents in peripheral villages, those in central ones were more likely to name individuals of their own class and to note mutual relations in their social networks.