Book Description

The volume contributes to the study of Greek commercial networks of the diaspora, from the period of European Enlightenment up to the late 19^th century and includes papers by historians Olga Katsiardi-Hering, Paschalis Kitromilides, Ikaros Madouvalos, Katerina Papakonstantinou, Andrea Seidler, Vassiliki Seirinidou, Evridiki Siphneou, Maria Stasinopoulou and Maria Christina Chatziioannou. The interconnection between the diaspora, commercial networks and the Enlightenment is a commonplace of classical social theory. It forms the basis for the conventional view regarding the formulation and dissemination of ideas, which is also reflected in Balkan historiography, and considers networks of commercial exchanges as channels for the transmission of ideas, eventually contributing to phenomena of cultural change culminating in the manifestation of the Enlightenment in the 18^th century. Although this approach is fairly well substantiated, there is room to ask fresh questions, especially with regard to the cultural and social contexts within which the drama of Enlightenment unfolds as the process of an intellectual and moral transformation.