ABSTRACT
Diasporic communities are unquestionably of decisive importance in the emergence of long-distance trade, and therefore in the growth of the global economy. Diasporas were successful in pre-modern and pre-colonial societies, colonial societies and post-colonial societies. These cross-cultural traders were not only traders and businessmen, but also cross-cultural brokers: they were interpreters and translators and they were creative trust creators The main questions I wish to answer in this article are: how did long-distance traders overcome cultural differences? How did traders with different backgrounds develop trust and create lasting economic relationships? This article has three sections. In the first section, I describe the emergence of the “stranger” and the “middleman” in the sociological and economic literature on long-distance trade and economic development. The second section highlights the notion of trust within the diaspora networks, and how trust was gained and lost within these networks. In the third and final section, I emphasize the role of intercultural communication and language(s). The subjects mentioned in these three sections should not be seen as separate entities: they are instead interrelated and reinforce one another. However, for the sake of clarity and organization of this text, and for analyzing the extensive literature on this subject, they are presented separately.
