The Return of Economic History: New Approaches and Discussions [on the occasion of the publication: U. Karakoç και A. Y. Kaya (επιμ.), İktisat Tarihinin Dönüşü. Yeni Yaklaşımlar ve Tartışmalar, Istanbul: Iletişim, 2021]

Coordinator: Maria Christina Chatziioannou (IHR/NHRF)

The discussion will be held in English without translation.

Date and time: Monday 14 June 2021 (16:00-19:00)

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoce6uqj4uHtzoJaLKyWe9WnuH0bkAFCIo

Live streaming: https://youtu.be/lqokiWqHC3g 

Abstract

Until the late 18^th century the Ottoman import and export trade was run mainly by foreign merchants. As a result, a large part of Ottoman traders accepted the status of protégés of those mustemins and became foreign citizens. In early 19^th century, the Ottoman authorities attempted to restore the balance. They created two special categories of Ottoman merchants – avrupa tuccars (non-Muslims) and hayriye tuccars (Muslims), these two categories were also known as beratlis, because of the special certificate (berat) they received from the authorities. The beratlis had the right to trade on the international market and to organize the international trade of the Empire. They were distinguished by a number of privileges received from the Ottoman authorities, the considerable financial resources at their disposal, and the dense professional networks they created.

The paper presents the category of non-Muslim beratlis in the Ottoman Empire between 1815 and 1866. The study is based two Ottoman defters from the The Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul. We were able to reconstruct the ethnic and religious structure of the group; geographical distribution of the beratlis and their assistants (hizmetkars); their networks and connections. Special emphasis in the presented examples is placed on nowadays-Bulgarian lands.

Date and time: Monday 10 May 2021 (16:00-18:00)

The seminar is unfortunately postponed for extraordinary reasons.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the creation of the maritime tradition and maritime labour force on the north coast of the Black and Azov Seas. This sparsely populated and wild region was annexed to the Russian Empire only in the late 1700s, and developed over the next century into Europe's granary and the Empire's new maritime center. The presentation will initially focus on whether the creation of maritime communities was the result of a planned strategy or a natural evolution of the shipping market. Secondly, it will describe the changes occurred with the introduction of steam navigation. Finally, the paper will analyze how the evolution of the seafaring workforce was influenced by the political and geostrategic priorities of the Empire in the region.

Date and time: Monday, 5 April 2021 (16:00-18:00)

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Mm5_KpcKRbOl4h3BXRdMAw

Abstract

In my presentation I will rely on a wide range of sources (including reports and depositions to the U.S. Congress, European Union documents, bio-terrorist attack simulations and exercises, series scripts, etc.) in order to explore the rationale behind potential threats, which prey on the current addiction to video games and disaster movies. Τhe language and rationale used in the “script” of such bioterrorism exercises as Dark Winter [June 22-23, 2001], a bio attack with a “smallpox weapon”, were not dissimilar to those used by Hollywood writers responsible for popular 1990s biotech movies and early 21^st century TV series including Fringe [2008-2013] and Strike Back [2010]. My intention is to explore the mechanism that consolidates a sense of vulnerability and an urgent need for state funds to be disbursed in building up reserves for specialized medicinal products and vaccines, alongside the requisite surveillance and reporting systems. The imposition of states of emergency in response to public health crises emerges as the natural conclusion of an ongoing process, whereby private corporate interests take precedence over the social interest.

Date and time: Monday 8 March 2021, (15:00-17:00)

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m9nz23nTTvebAgegJZ4OXg

Abstract

The presentation examines the possibilities of employing Geographic Information Systems for the combined analysis of quantitative and cartographic sources to inquire into the relationship between economy, environment, and landscape in nineteenth-century Cyprus. This research is based on the Ottoman property survey of 1832/33 and the first modern trigonometrical map commissioned by the British administration in 1881-83. Despite the fact that both sources constitute for different reasons unique moments of the rural and urban landscape of Cyprus, thus rendering any generalisation a difficult endeavour, the wealth of the data remains important for understanding the relationship between economy and environment on the island. Employing the methods of deep mapping, the presentation will discuss the findings of the processing and analysis of data derived from a volume of 1,386 pages with reference to 894 geographic objects, 20,211 households, 25,163 individuals, and 99,532 properties. The valuable geographic information of the 1883 map further allow examining the correlations of these economic data with the environment and landscape of the time.

Date and time: Monday 1 February 2021 (16:00-18:00)

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cUI_Ds0eSSmHpd4ZW4mBnQ

Abstract

This paper investigates the history of the German-Greek relationship in the context of European integration and demonstrates that West Germany and German-Greek business networks played a crucial role in the shaping of Greece’s post-war growth model. The paper challenges the assumption that the relationship between the two countries is overshadowed by the past and shows that, in fact, post-war German-Greek relations were forged around European integration with an eye to the future and that it was the two countries’ early rapprochement and the mutual accommodation of their respective aims that laid the foundations of their asymmetrical interdependence. It is the success of Greece’s European strategy, rather than its failure, that lies at the heart of Greece’s ongoing balance-of-payments problems: a lingering trade deficit with Germany, the country’s major trading partner, proved to be the price paid for growth and modernization. 

Date and Time: Monday 7 December 2020, 16.00-18.00

Abstract
The severance of occupied Greece from its traditional overseas markets, the widespread hoarding and concealment of production from the authorities, the purchases (and looting) of various goods by the occupiers, the collapse of the transport network and the diminished agricultural production due to the war were among the main causes of the emergence of the Black Market. However, this phenomenon was not one-dimensional nor was it characterized by uniformity and stability in time and space. The different 'colors' of the market ('White', 'Black', 'gray'), the geographical differences according to local conditions, the fluctuations depending on the course of the war and the role of the occupation authorities and the puppet governments (attempted repression but also cases of complicity), as well as the social consequences of the phenomenon are some of the aspects that will be addressed in this presentation.