Resistance in the Early Modern Iberian Empires: Historicizing an Entangled, Contentious Social Practice

Pablo Sánchez Léon, Benita Herreros

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

On the basis that resistance has come to be included among the forms of political action of social movements, this introduction offers an overview of its relevance for the study of the history of social conflicts and a historicization for its application to studies of the Portuguese and Hispanic empires in the Early Modern period. The text updates the debates on the category since the work of George C. Scott and Michel de Certeau and adds the contributions of other perspectives in their wake, offering a redefinition of resistance as a form of “contained contention” whose physiognomy is more entangled than opposed. The text then underlines the generalisation of practices of resistance in monarchies in the pre-modern world to focus on pluralism as an inherent feature of the normative frameworks of the pluricentric Iberian monarchies, whose overlapping and competing spheres of jurisdiction distinguished them from the monopolistic and centralized institutions as found in modern nation states. Drawing from political anthropology and legal studies, the proposal also goes beyond instrumental rationality approaches, arguing that resistances can be seen as “secondary adjustments” expressing the values of the individuals that undertake them and of their groups of reference. Finally, the text summarizes the content of the seventeen studies gathered in the volume.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationResistance in the Iberian Worlds from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century
Subtitle of host publicationDissent and Disobedience from Within
EditorsPablo Sánchez Leòn, Benita Herreros
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Chapter1
Pages3–22
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-63405-5
Publication statusPublished - 24 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Resistance
  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Brazil
  • America
  • Normativity
  • Identity
  • Rationality
  • Early modern age
  • Theory
  • Epistemology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Resistance in the Early Modern Iberian Empires: Historicizing an Entangled, Contentious Social Practice'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this