“Cosmopolitanism” as a feature of the greek commercial diaspora

Abstract

This article suggests that “Cosmopolitanism” was not merely a distinctive feature of Mediterranean ports between the mid‐nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century, but also a specific cultural phenomenon that characterized commercial diasporas. The latter have played key roles in international trade and proved to be basic agents of change in the urban and civic development of Mediterranean cities. I use the two examples of Odessa and Alexandria to support my hypothesis that “Cosmopolitanism” may be described as a distinctive cultural worldview and a set of publicly oriented practices that drew inspiration from Western European progressive Enlightenment. It characterized the activities of a segment of the Greek (and other) commercial diasporas in the Eastern Mediterranean, and was inextricably linked with an increasing internationalization of trade in the early industrial period. It comprised certain skills and qualities developed by merchants of family and kinship‐embedded international trading houses. It was also accompanied by a wider civic‐oriented philanthropy for regional or local development, often outside national borders. These not only facilitated commerce, but also contributed to the development of urban infrastructures and the embellishment of towns through giving them a common “European” culture. The type of Cosmopolitanism described in this article blossomed principally in the age of empires and declined when nationalism progressively recast ethnic identities and redrew national frontiers. Nationalism and increased competition from northern Europe transformed the old cultural forms of Cosmopolitanism. Taken together, these two forces—one cultural and the other economic—hindered direct communication and exchange between the ports of the old empires, and restructured the trade routes through which international exchanges had occurred. This consequently led to a relative decline of Mediterranean ports, the repatriation of capital to the new national centres, and the reshaping of identities to conform to the new cultural and political exigencies of the new nation‐states.