Cultural and conceptual contributions of Beiruti merchants to the Nahda

The contention of this article is that some cultural emphases shift in response to changing socio-economic realities, in order to serve specific socio-economic interests. This paper examines, through the prism of the cultural activities and ideologies of some Beiruti merchants, their contribution to the process of the Arabic Nahda, enlarging on their conceptual endowment to the process of modernization. The paper sheds new light on several aspects of the merchants' cultural contribution by emphasizing the strong link they forged between culture and economy, focusing on the merchants' activities and writings, especially those of Salīm Bustrus, here presented as a case study.