Purpose

The importance of networks has been established in the development of commerce and capitalism, with key concepts reflecting both the dynamic and permeable characteristics of networks. Such attributes are exemplified by religious networks, which have been typically dismissed in terms of economic contribution as being both risk-averse and bounded by ethical barriers imposed by theology. This paper aims to examine the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the long 18th century to evidence the multi-plexity and density of connections and suggest that adherence to the Quaker discipline acted as a trust-based attribute and substituted for repeated iteration.

Design/methodology/approach

The archival investigation centres upon an analysis of “The Catalogue of Quaker Writing” and a close re-reading of the seminal text “Quakers in Science and Industry”, an authoritative account of Quaker firms and families in industry and commerce. By identifying multiple possible social network connections in Raistrick’s work, this paper reviewed and analysed The Catalogue of Quaker Writing to examine the presence or absence of these connections in the Quaker network in the long 18th century.

Findings

This paper shows how the Quaker network was an unusually dense network that benefited co-religionists by enabling commerce through its unique topography. In a period characterized by the absence of formal institutional mechanisms to regulate behaviour, Quaker discipline acted as a quasi-regulatory mechanism to regulate membership of the network and to govern member moral behaviour.

Originality/value

The Quakers offer an opportunity to examine an early modern network to gain important insights into key aspects of network topography. By using social network analysis, this paper shows how Quakers performed a multiplicity of roles, which encouraged multiple modes of contact between members of the society in a dense network of contexts, which, in turn, provided high levels of connectedness between individuals. This unique range of roles, shared among a relatively small group of individuals, ensured that the degrees of separation between roles were very few; similarly, the plethora of connections resulted in a density, which not only allowed for multiple ways to engage with other individuals but also ensured no individual would become a bottle-neck or indeed a gateway that would prevent access. This unique topography was also highly unusual in that it was permeable to any aspirant member upon acceptance of the discipline – neither poverty nor lack of social status was barriers to membership. This unusual network offered atypical commercial advantages for its members.

中文翻译：

---

宗教和社会网络分析：早期现代贵格会的学科

目的

网络在商业和资本主义发展中的重要性已经确立，关键概念反映了网络的动态和渗透特性。这些属性以宗教网络为例，宗教网络在经济贡献方面通常被忽视，因为它们既规避风险又受到神学强加的道德障碍的限制。本文旨在研究 18 世纪漫长的宗教友会（贵格会），以证明联系的复杂性和密度，并表明对贵格会纪律的遵守作为一种基于信任的属性，并取代了重复迭代。

设计/方法/方法

档案调查集中在对“贵格会写作目录”的分析和对开创性文本“科学与工业中的贵格会”的仔细阅读，这是对贵格会公司和工商家族的权威描述。本文通过在 Raistrick 的作品中识别出多种可能的社交网络联系，回顾和分析了贵格会写作目录，以检验这些联系在 18 世纪漫长的贵格会网络中的存在与否。

发现

本文展示了贵格会网络如何成为一个异常密集的网络，通过其独特的地形促进商业活动，从而使共同宗教主义者受益。在一个以缺乏规范行为的正式制度机制为特征的时期，贵格会纪律充当了一种准规范机制来规范网络成员和管理成员的道德行为。

原创性/价值

Quakers 提供了一个检查早期现代网络的机会，以获得对网络拓扑的关键方面的重要见解。通过使用社交网络分析，本文展示了贵格会如何扮演多种角色，在密集的环境网络中鼓励社会成员之间的多种联系模式，这反过来又提供了个人之间的高度联系。这种独特的角色范围由相对较少的个人共享，确保角色之间的分离程度非常小；同样，过多的连接导致了密度，这不仅允许以多种方式与其他人接触，而且确保没有人会成为阻碍访问的瓶颈或实际上的网关。这种独特的地形也非常不寻常，因为任何有志于接受该学科的成员都可以渗透它——贫穷或缺乏社会地位都不是成为成员的障碍。这个不寻常的网络为其成员提供了非典型的商业优势。