In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Journal of Interdisciplinary History 35.1 (2004) 139-140



[Access article in PDF]
Negotiated Empires: Centers and Peripheries in the Americas, 1500-1820. Edited by Christine Daniels and Michael V. Kennedy (New York, Routledge, 2002) 328 pp. $80.00 cloth $19.95 paper

The fifteen distinguished scholars who contribute to this volume offer a fresh, comprehensive, and consistently interesting survey of two familiar fields of study, the interdependence of colonial centers and peripheries, and the negotiation of power in early modern empires. Their work covers the five principal American enterprises, including those of Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, and Britain, and spans more than three centuries, giving the collection a remarkable breadth of coverage. Each manages to combine sophisticated historiography with detailed case studies and historical narratives that should engage experts and non- specialists alike. Together, they avoid rehashing well-worn debates shaped by dependency and world-systems theory, developing instead new perspectives on intracolonial political economy and divergent systems of imperial authority.

Part of this task involves redefining terminology. Even a brief look at the terms of analysis suggested by several authors reveals a good deal about the themes in the book. Amy Turner Bushnell, for example, writes of "internal" and "external" peripheries, "strategic" and "non-strategic" frontiers, and of zones of "mastery" and of "marginality." John DePaske characterizes the mining regions of Mexico and Peru as "vital" peripheries. And A.J.R. Russell-Wood draws on historical geography for the terms "Umland," "Hinterland," and "Vorland." These discussions refurbish a conceptual language that has been much criticized, without adding a whole new vocabulary of arcane jargon, and provide [End Page 139] convincing arguments that center-periphery approaches are still interesting.

Another part of the task is reevaluating the balance of power in different colonial contexts. To this end, several essays focus not so much on regional dynamics as on administrative practices, imperial political cultures, and local processes of political negotiation. These contributions, in particular, provide a clearer sense of changes over time. David J. Weber, for example, examines late eighteenth-century Indian policy in northern New Spain. His thoughtful and provocative piece explores Spain's struggle to reconcile new Enlightenment-era ideas of governance and local sovereignty with the need to secure a vulnerable frontier. Wim Klooster's article on the Dutch looks at colonial power in the absence of a centralized state, and also emphasizes contrasts between the practices of the East and West India Companies. Leslie Choquette and Philip P. Boucher show that French settlers in North America and the Caribbean were able to defend their own interests despite their king's notion of absolutism. Elizabeth Mancke charts three periods in British practices of imperial negotiation that are expertly tied to global events.

This collection is highly recommended. Specialists will appreciate the new work on debates that are central to their fields, but, more important, Negotiated Empires offers an accessible, comprehensive, and challenging introduction for non-specialists in one volume. It is a timely and welcome addition to the literature available on world history, Atlantic history, and other comparative or topical concerns.


University of Arizona


...

pdf

Share