Suchergebnisse

The merchants of the medieval Hanse monopolised trade in the Baltic and North Sea areas. The authors describe the structure of their trade system in terms of network organisation and attempts to explain, on the grounds of institutional economics, the coordination of the merchants' commercial exchange by reputation, trust and culture. The institutional economics approach also allows for a comprehensive analysis of coordination problems arising between merchants, towns and the 'Kontore'. Due to the simplicity and flexibility of network trade the Hansards could bridge the huge gap in economic development between the West and the East. In the changing economic conditions around 1500, however, exactly these characteristics proved to be a serious limit to further retain their trade monopoly.

The aim of this article is to analyze the process of institutionalization of women's history through the creation of study centers, and the related publications in the Southern Cone. For that purpose we consider a selection of journals as examples of collective texts that played a considerable role in institutionalizing study centers and professionalizing the field, namely in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. In addition, we consider the advances in women's history, since it was one of the disciplines on which women's studies had a significant impact. In summary, we argue that due to the publication of specific journals, a more complex set of problems and questions arose, allowing the development of women's studies converging later to the wider thematics of gender studies.