Imperial Norms and Local Realities: The Ottoman Municipal Laws and the Municipality of Beirut (1860-1908)
Volume 105 of the Beiruter Texte und Studien by Malek Sharif is now available in open access on MENAdoc.
Malek Sharif revises and rejects the widely held assumption that the municipal institution of the Ottoman Tanzimat period was imposed on the provinces by the central authorities of the Empire.
This study provides a differentiated picture of the Beirut municipality, achieved through the careful perusal of the consecutive Ottoman laws, in addition to a variety of other contemporary sources including the local press, Ottoman almanacs, memoirs, Western consular correspondence, travelogues and Ottoman archival material.