Some More Academic Ramblings

So I came up with an epiphany yesterday when I was half asleep and awake. I came up with a setup for my capstone/thesis. I was waiting for this to happen, and it was formed because of my study abroad and the thoughts I had from exploring and observing the region.

Here's the idea:

The process of history have shown a pattern that evolves, and proves the large and grand changes which have taken place today. In the modern day, 20th century onwards, we have seen a pattern so far in the history of Catalonia. Barcelona, the main city on the Mediterranean coast, experienced major growth until the Spanish Civil War and the conquest by Franco and his dictatorship. The growth stopped, and many people stayed put. The economy did not improve, and the urban area stopped receiving immigrants. Once Franco's dictatorship fell in the 1970's, industry and growth resumed, and Barcelona flourished, bringing in many immigrants and migrants, especially from the outer lying rural regions. Technology and universities blossomed, and attracted all the young people, and explains tourism in the city, especially after the 1992 Olympics, which were held in the city.

As for the rural areas, at the end of the 19th century, industry had been set up for local demand, and produced only that. Once Franco's rule came in, the rural areas lost their growth, and most culture found security in the isolated rural areas, where a lot of Catalonia was kept in secret. After Franco's fall, the rural communities were free to express Catalan culture, and much of it migrated back into Barcelona, and reestablished itself. The method of movement was through the young people, who left the small rural villages for better possibilities in the new liberalized economy of the city. Brain drain is the proper term for this. After this, all the rural areas had to rely on was tourism, because what industry had survived moved to Barcelona for the advantages it offered.

Phew. That is a lot. But here is the point: This change had one major factor, the rule of Franco and his disruption to the growth of the region. Henceforth, since I am in economics, in equation form it is:

NG= Growth
G= Growth
Disruption Event= E
Rural= r
Urban= u
Industry/Development= D
P= Population

G= uD+rD
when E is introduced
NG= uD+rD+E
G= uD-rD-E
2G=uD+rP y G/2= rD-rP

Okay, well that was a horrible explanation of it in formulas, but anyways...

Substitute Catalonia with Appalachia, Barcelona with a major northern city, say Chicago, and Franco's rule with the Depression. Make sense now?

-Nick Ford