Daily Archives: September 19, 2026

The Duped Suitor: Mr. Rushworth, Marriage-Market Vulnerability, and Austen’s Theory of Courtship in Mansfield Park

Executive Summary Among the many suitors in Jane Austen’s novels, James Rushworth of Sotherton Court in Mansfield Park (1814) is one of the few whom Austen treats almost entirely as a warning. He is wealthy, well-connected, and eager to marry, … Continue reading

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The Invisible Floor: Personal Social Nets, Scarcity, and the Unrecognized Architecture of Resilience

Executive Summary Personal social nets are the web of family, friends, neighbors, congregations, and informal acquaintances who provide care, resources, counsel, and encouragement. They are among the most load-bearing structures in ordinary life, and among the least recognized. Their value … Continue reading

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The Border Is Always Somewhere Else: Deflected Exonyms, Residual Regions, and the Legitimacy of Geographical Labels

Abstract Many geographical labels have no willing inhabitants. The Balkans, Eastern Europe, Upstate New York, the Third World, and flyover country are real enough in public speech, but the peoples assigned to them routinely reject the assignment and relocate the … Continue reading

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