PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Phone: 617-489-1610
E-mail: hq@naasr.org
Contact: Marc A. Mamigonian

DR. INA MCCABE TO SPEAK AT NAASR ON “ARMENIANS AS A GLOBAL
ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK”

Dr. Ina Baghdiantz McCabe of Tufts University will give a lecture
entitled “The Armenians As a Global Entrepreneurial Network,” on
Thursday, March 23, at the National Association for Armenian Studies and
Research (NAASR) Center, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA.

Dr. McCabe is the co-editor of the recent book Diaspora Entrepreneurial
Networks: Four Centuries of History (Berg Publishers) and the author of
one of the volume’s chapters dealing with the Armenians and the Eurasian
Silk Trade. Regarding this new book, Geoffrey Jones, Joseph C. Wilson
Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School,
writes: “Diaspora communities are important drivers of today’s global
economy. This highly original collection of essays reveals the rich
history of this phenomenon. The book opens up a new dimension of the
business history of globalization with fascinating studies of the roles
of Armenian, Greek, Jewish, Chinese and other entrepreneurial networks.”

Trade Diasporas an Understudied Area

National historiographies have masked the significance of
trade diasporas and their entrepreneurial networks, despite the fact
that they lay at the heart of the gradual integration of the world into
one global system. Contrary to many a current belief, the integration of
the world economy, the so-called globalization of modern economic life,
does not owe its present character solely to the actions (and omissions)
of the colonialism and imperialism of prominent western or eastern
powers.

The study of such networks, which often took the form of
ethnic trade diasporas, is becoming a vibrant field for economic,
business, political, and social historians, sociologists, and
economists. Historical diasporas -the three classical ones, the
Armenians, the Greeks and the

Jews-epitomize the resilience of older, traditional forms of certain
people that crossed national and imperial boundaries for centuries.

Dr. McCabe’s talk will focus on the Armenian network, the reasons for
its success, its modes of communication and commercial intelligence, the
socio-economic reasons for its resilience despite many catastrophic
circumstances, and the structural elements this network shared with
other successful diaspora networks.

Dr. Ina Baghdiantz McCabe holds the Hagop and Miriam Darakjian and
Boghos and Nazley Jafarian and Son Haig Chair in Armenian History at
Tufts University. She is the author of The Shah’s Silk for Europe’s
Silver: The Eurasian Silk Trade of the Julfan Armenians in Safavid Iran
and India (1590-1750) and the co-author of Slaves of the Shah: New
Elites of Isfahan.

The NAASR Bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. Copies of Diaspora
Entrepreneurial Networks: Four Centuries of History will be on sale and
available for signing by the author.

The NAASR Center and Headquarters is located opposite the First Armenian
Church and next to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available
around the building and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin
promptly at 8:00 p.m.

More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing hq@naasr.org, or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.