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The evolution of global cleavages : a historical analysis of territorial and functional world alignments based on automated text analysis, 1843-2020

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https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76806
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1028-3625
Issue Date
2024
Type of Publication
Working Paper
Keyword(s)
Global cleavages; Territoriality; Functionality; World regions; Class
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https://hdl.handle.net/1814/78013
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EUI; RSC; Working Paper; 2024/07; European Governance and Politics Programme; GLOBAL
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CARAMANI, Daniele, GUROVA, Siyana, WIDMANN, Tobias, The evolution of global cleavages : a historical analysis of territorial and functional world alignments based on automated text analysis, 1843-2020, EUI, RSC, Working Paper, 2024/07, European Governance and Politics Programme, GLOBAL - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76806
Abstract
This paper examines the global cleavages that structure world politics from the mid-19th century to the present. It develops the concept of cleavage applied at the global level and measures empirically how territorial divisions give way to the politicization of various types of inequality along functional lines cutting across world regions. Covering over 300,000 articles from The Economist between 1843 and 2020, the analysis applies semi-supervised computational text analysis based on word embeddings to capture the territoriality−functionality continuum in global discourse. This method allows testing the theoretical expectation that the territoriality in the politicization of global divisions has diminished historically. Results reveal a trend toward the de-territorialization since World War II, primarily for cleavages about social and economic inequality. Although spikes of territoriality re-appear during interstate wars throughout the entire period, surges of territoriality are temporary and do not reverse the historical trend towards prevailing cross-territorial divisions.
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European University Institute
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Research Projects
European Commission, 101097740
Sponsorship and Funder Information
ERC Advanced Grant project GLOBAL (ERC-2022-ADG, project number: 101097740). Global Cleavages: The Shape of Political Conflict across World Regions in Historical Perspective
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RSC Working Papers