From Empire to Nation-States: the 19th-century Balkan Commerce and Generational Networks
(Evguenia Davidova, Portland State University)
“Thus, our Paligorići are Paligorov amongst the Bulgarians, Paligora amongst the Romanians, and amongst the Greeks Paligoros.”
The quote is an eloquent example of the name choices employed by traders in order to navigate multiethnic contexts. This lecture explores the strategies for business expansion of three generations of Balkan merchants through the examination of a few case studies. I will seek to answer to following set of questions: What strategies did each generation use? Were they transmitted to the next one? How did various ethno-religious networks work? How did professional cooperation and competition occur? What was the impact of the institutional framework? What was the effect of business success on political and social behavior? The lecture, grounded in correspondence, ledgers, guides, memoirs, and newspapers, investigates how commercial developments contributed to accumulation of wealth, formation of middle classes, articulation of nationalist aspirations, and transition to modernity.
ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ 1/11/2019 16:00
ΚΤΗΡΙΟ ΔΕΣΚΟΙ 5ος Όροφος