000			01901nam a22001577a 4500
999			_c516246 _d516246
008			210220b ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aBecker, S.O., Hsiao, Y. and Pfaff, S. _924284
245			_aMultiplex network ties and the spatial diffusion of radical innovations: Martin luther’s leadership in the early reformation
260			_aAmerican Sociological Review
300			_a85(5), Oct, 2020: p.857-894
520			_aThis article analyzes Martin Luther’s role in spreading the early Reformation, one of the most important episodes of radical institutional change in the last millennium. We argue that social relations played a key role in its diffusion because the spread of heterodox ideologies and their eventual institutionalization relied not only on private “infection” through exposure to innovation but also on active conversion and promotion of that new faith through personal ties. We conceive of that process as leader-to-follower directional influence originating with Luther and flowing to local elites through personal ties. Based on novel data on Luther’s correspondence, Luther’s visits, and student enrollments in Luther’s city of Wittenberg, we reconstruct Luther’s influence network to examine whether local connections to him increased the odds of adopting Protestantism. Using regression analyses and simulations based on empirical network data, we find that the combination of personal/relational diffusion via Luther’s multiplex ties and spatial/structural diffusion via trade routes fostered cities’ adoption of the Reformation, making possible Protestantism’s early breakthrough from a regional movement to a general rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church. - Reprodeced
650			_aDiffusion, Opinion leaders, Contagion models, Social change _922714
773			_aAmerican Sociological Review
906			_aSOCIAL CHANGE
942			_cAR