Aleppo in Asia: Mercantile networks between Syria, China and post-Soviet Eurasia since 1970
Authors
Anderson, Paul
Publication Date
2018-12-07Journal Title
History and Anthropology
ISSN
0275-7206
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Volume
29
Issue
sup1
Pages
S67-S83
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
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Anderson, P. (2018). Aleppo in Asia: Mercantile networks between Syria, China and post-Soviet Eurasia since 1970. History and Anthropology, 29 (sup1), S67-S83. https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2018.1513930
Abstract
Indian Ocean and Mediterranean studies have highlighted the limitations imposed on our understanding of the dynamics of West Asia by the paradigm of area studies and the category of the ‘Middle East’. But less attention has been paid to how expansive perspectives that do not invoke an explicitly maritime geography might enrich our understanding of the region's formative connections. This article seeks to locate the modern city of Aleppo in a trans-regional Asian geography by tracing the shifting history of mercantile networks that connected Aleppo to other parts of Eurasia – notably, parts of the formerly Soviet world and the city of Yiwu in Southeast China. It highlights the importance of trans-regional flows of Soviet patronage, and then Chinese state subsidies and credit, in embedding Aleppo into these expansive circuits. It also argues that these flows have fostered the emergence of a hitherto-unstudied business class in Syria.
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, through Research Grant 78008, Trust, Global Traders and Commodities in a Chinese International City (“TRODITIES”).
Funder references
European Research Council (669132)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2018.1513930
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284388
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