Landscapes of Power and Identity

Comparative Histories in the Sonoran Desert and the Forests of Amazonia from Colony to Republic

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Earth Sciences, Geography, History, Americas, Mexico, Biological Sciences, Environmental Science
Cover of the book Landscapes of Power and Identity by Cynthia Radding, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Cynthia Radding ISBN: 9780822387404
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: January 18, 2006
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Cynthia Radding
ISBN: 9780822387404
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: January 18, 2006
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Landscapes of Power and Identity is a groundbreaking comparative history of two colonies on the frontiers of the Spanish empire—the Sonora region of northwestern Mexico and the Chiquitos region of eastern Bolivia’s lowlands—from the late colonial period through the middle of the nineteenth century. An innovative combination of environmental and cultural history, this book reflects Cynthia Radding’s more than two decades of research on Mexico and Bolivia and her consideration of the relationships between human societies and the geographic landscapes they inhabit and create. At first glance, Sonora and Chiquitos are quite different: one a scrub-covered desert, the other a tropical rainforest of the greater Amazonian and Paraguayan river basins. Yet the regions are similar in many ways. Both were located far from the centers of colonial authority, organized into Jesuit missions and linked to the principal mining centers of New Spain and the Andes, and then absorbed into nation-states in the nineteenth century. In each area, the indigenous communities encountered European governors, missionaries, slave hunters, merchants, miners, and ranchers.

Radding’s comparative approach illuminates what happened when similar institutions of imperial governance, commerce, and religion were planted in different physical and cultural environments. She draws on archival documents, published reports by missionaries and travelers, and previous histories as well as ecological studies and ethnographies. She also considers cultural artifacts, including archaeological remains, architecture, liturgical music, and religious dances. Radding demonstrates how colonial encounters were conditioned by both the local landscape and cultural expectations; how the colonizers and colonized understood notions of territory and property; how religion formed the cultural practices and historical memories of the Sonoran and Chiquitano peoples; and how the conflict between the indigenous communities and the surrounding creole societies developed in new directions well into the nineteenth century.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Landscapes of Power and Identity is a groundbreaking comparative history of two colonies on the frontiers of the Spanish empire—the Sonora region of northwestern Mexico and the Chiquitos region of eastern Bolivia’s lowlands—from the late colonial period through the middle of the nineteenth century. An innovative combination of environmental and cultural history, this book reflects Cynthia Radding’s more than two decades of research on Mexico and Bolivia and her consideration of the relationships between human societies and the geographic landscapes they inhabit and create. At first glance, Sonora and Chiquitos are quite different: one a scrub-covered desert, the other a tropical rainforest of the greater Amazonian and Paraguayan river basins. Yet the regions are similar in many ways. Both were located far from the centers of colonial authority, organized into Jesuit missions and linked to the principal mining centers of New Spain and the Andes, and then absorbed into nation-states in the nineteenth century. In each area, the indigenous communities encountered European governors, missionaries, slave hunters, merchants, miners, and ranchers.

Radding’s comparative approach illuminates what happened when similar institutions of imperial governance, commerce, and religion were planted in different physical and cultural environments. She draws on archival documents, published reports by missionaries and travelers, and previous histories as well as ecological studies and ethnographies. She also considers cultural artifacts, including archaeological remains, architecture, liturgical music, and religious dances. Radding demonstrates how colonial encounters were conditioned by both the local landscape and cultural expectations; how the colonizers and colonized understood notions of territory and property; how religion formed the cultural practices and historical memories of the Sonoran and Chiquitano peoples; and how the conflict between the indigenous communities and the surrounding creole societies developed in new directions well into the nineteenth century.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book The Antinomian Controversy, 1636-1638 by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book The Making and Unmaking of the Haya Lived World by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Intimate Enemies by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book What Makes Sound Patterns Expressive? by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book The Ruling Passion by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Solitaire of Love by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Harriet Tubman by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book An Aqueous Territory by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Abject Performances by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Listening Subjects by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book Central American Recovery and Development by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book The Space of Boredom by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book The Creolization of Theory by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book The Criminals of Lima and Their Worlds by Cynthia Radding
Cover of the book History from the Bottom Up and the Inside Out by Cynthia Radding
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy