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    Yun Casalilla - Cultural Exchange in PIEPER and OTHERS... - 1

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    40 Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla counters, hybridization, circulation of goods, people and knowledge, but also by the enormous capacity for destruction as well as political organization that Euro: peans acquired in parallel to the rise of the Atlantic: the military revolution, the universalism impregnating Christianity, the notable capability of European states to mobilize human, intellectual, administrative, scientific, and technical resources, as wall as to introduce the classic world’s legacy and the Renaissance Humanism in other worlds. For good or for bad, Europeans were not only partners, but central actors who, though unable to control every corner of the ocean and its peoples, im: posed their own force upon history and were responsible for tin many senses even if the outcome was an unpredictable blend of many forces. T do not think itis an error to suggest that historians will provincialize Eu- rope, some even without recognizing it, in the coming years, with Atlantic histori- ans and trans-national history bearing no small responsibilty in the endeavor. Yet, wwe historians should also be prudent and self-critical enough to resist a too strong temptation in this respect. 38 Bartolomé Yun-Casailla not activated by modern forms of marketing, but rather by the workings of a po: litical economy, such a that ofthe Spanish empire, that created exceptionsl condi tions of supply through a monopoly for fiscal reasons. Thus, aspects 50 far neglect- ced among the historians of consumption, such as medical prejudices and scientific knovledge oF the way the different politcal economies acted regarding new prod- ucts, become relevant. “Thehistory ofboth products, and of others that we could add, demonstrates something more important. It reveals that European societies before the 18" cen- tury were much mote receptive to the consumption of new products than the ste- reotype ofa society stuck to traditional social practices indicates. It also demon- strates that the barriers to the practices of consumption among the different social ‘orders were muich less important that we had thought “These findings, while comprehensible, also reveal another characteristic of Furopean Old Regime societies unknown until today: ifthe consumption of some prodicts was highly codified and regulated (for example, in atire), some Atlantic ‘goods, due to their novelty, enjoyed a status that initially situated them ou‘sde the rules of the social game. Anyone capable of acquiring tobacco or chocolate could consume it because, as new products, they lacked established codes of corduct re- {garding their consumption or the ways in which they were consumed. And let me recall that for some anthropologists like Appadurai modern societies are those ‘where a normative sense of consumption has disappeared and potential demand is driven only by income and fashion.*! A final re-reading: what does all of this mean for European history in general and, more concretely, for the way we need to write the history of Europe today? These considerations constitute a decisive path toward the provincialization of Europe and its role on a global scale in the modern period. This step will be present in fu: ture histories of Europe more or less explicitly. ‘A simple reflection on the cases presented here leave two things clear: (a) Buropeans did not impose themselves upon peoples on the other side of the At Iantic without problems or internal changes and perversion of their own p-inciples ‘and material culture; and (b) in many ways Europe was not so central to the history ‘of humanity during the modern period, Indeed, we have seen that patterns of con: sumption and culture (especially Furopean material culture) were not automati cally accepted in America or Africa, Rather, the influence of other peoples like AF ricans, was greater than has been supposed. In some ways, Europe was little more than one more piece in the game of worlds. For example - in one of many possibil ities ~ the silver circuits with their prolongations from America to Asia, known for years, acquire particular relevance today. They demonstrate that Europeans were SIA Avra, Introduction: Commodities and Polis of Vale. In: A. APPABURAR, The Social Life of Thinas: Conamedities tn Culkural Perspective. Cammbridee 1988, 3-63, ‘The History of Consumption in a Trans-Atlantic Perspective 39 not the “center” of the world economies described some years ago by scholars like Wallerstein ven on the scientific and technological plane, today we recognize a very strong Asian inheritance, as much in the process of discoveries as in the sci entific revolution in which fields like mathematics were long dynamized outside of Europe. And we could continue In short, what we have isa much more nuanced and controversial image of the "Rise of the West In this image, the Atlantic and our new vision ofits playing an important role, Europe is already provincializing itself inthe eyes of historians. This development joins a change that is not historiographical but rather histori- cal and even politcal. Nobody can ignore thatthe present, the perception of pre sent-day politics, has always and will continue to impact our vision of history. The recent financial crisis and the European Union's inability to respond to the needs of many Europeans are creating a sense of “Europe in crisis” overtaken by Asia, in particular, and even by America. While this situation may be reversible, the histo rian is certainly tempted to project it over the past to situate Europe in this past as a more modest part of a more complex whole. Many of us have the feeling that the current economic criss affects not only the internal constitution ofthe European Union's projec, but also certain aspects of the European heritage, such as the wel: fare state, the financial and industrial system that Europe invented in the 19" cen: tury, the nation state, etc. All ofthis reveals a weaker Europe and makes us see the provisional and transitory character of the inheritance that Europeans have given the world, which makes us even smaller and more fragile If, as always the present aud the way we envisage the future condition our view of the past, [have the impression that this pessimistic and provincializing vi- sion will become increasingly common in our history books. Politics and current cevents go on in the same track as the historiography and the academy. And, infact, the vision that we have of the Atlantic and the globalization process during the modern period moves inthis direction. Yet this shift in the historiography and the general crisis of Eurocentrism ~ the devil today for many historians ~ should not lead us to forget other aspects of the past that are also implicit inthe current development of Atlantic history. Some narratives of global history are replacing those of Atlantic history by emphasizing the relation between Asia and Europe. A good example is the superb work of K. Po :meranz, who put the accent on a great divergence between Europe and Asia due to the industrial revolution. One should not forget, however, that there is precedent and very important divergence in human history. That isthe turning point that we could situate in 1492 and the following century. The so-called Great Divergence would have been impossible without this previous turning point. But, more im: portant for our argument here, this crucial moment was marked by exchanges, en ‘52 WALLERSTHIN, World System, as note 12. 53K, Pomeranz, The Great Divergence China, Europe, and the Making ofthe Modern Word ‘Economy, Princeton 2001 36 Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla Very interestingly, recent studies are pointing to processes of hybridization in which European material culture(s) also faced obstacles. considerable num- ber of products from Asia became part of the Creole elites’ signs of identity. In par- ticular, silks coming from Manila played a very important role in capturing the po- tential demand of the richest and most influential social groups in cities like Mexi- co or Lima.** Even many obrajes specialized in the production of cloths but not in the genuine European style. Instead, they combined European and American tra- ns, when not expressing Indian tastes and fashions or using Indian tradition- al techniques and raw materials, which meant a very small change in the local ma- terial regimes.#5 Although the desire for Castilian products in the Americas appears evi- dent, around 1590 ~ when contraband still remained limited ~ the total of the an- nual Castilian exports to the Indies only reached a value similar to that of the com- merce ofa city like Cordoba.*® This quantity, while considerable in marginal terms, should caution us against exaggerating the potential demand in America. The for- ‘mation of a potent market for metropolitan merchandise on the other side of the ‘ocean, though difficult to deny, must have had lesser dimensions than imagined ‘when America is considered a panacea ‘These considerations lead to another aspect of the problem. Economic his- {orians, and in particular historians of consumption, tend to think that supply cre- ates demand in a peaceful way. Marketing is viewed as the act by which traders persuade consumers. The American case is, however, an example to the contrary. Rather than marketing, as economists understand it, the key to the introduction of, ‘new patterns of consumption was coercion, religious conversion, a dramatic cul- tural change, and the subversion of local social rules, Furthermore, friars and gov- ernors, not merchants, were the main agents ofthis process. “The encounter of material cultures and petterns of consumption also has to be seen in the opposite direction, since what we know about Atlantic products and the way that they reached Burope obliges us to revise certain common conceptions about the history of consumption in the Old World. Until very recently, changes in material culture and consumption in the Old World have been studied from a purely endogenous view point, Cultural, social, and sometimes economic change, as provoked by internal forces, has been seen as the key force for the rise of new fashions and consumption patterns. One excellent example is the idea ofthe so- 4H Scein this respect the PHD dissertation of), L Gases, Global Trade as not 25, 45, Soe the example of some Peruvian obras in J. de la PuENTE BrUNEE, Eacomnenda yencomen eros ene Peru. Estudio socly politico de una inetiticién colonial. Seville 1992, 2018. Avery intresting analysis on how hybridization was the outcome ofthe encounter between Eucope ans and Americans material cultures, se. M. COro0aa OcHoa, La elusia privacidad del lo XVL In: J. Bona Gowe2/P RopsicuEz Jénez, La Historia dea vid prvads en Colom ‘ia, tome Las fronts difuss del silo XVI a 1880, Maid 2011 48-79, 46 BYuN-Casauitta The American Empire andthe Spanish Economy. An Institutonal and Re- ‘gional Perspective. In: Revista de Historia Econémica XVI, 1(1998) afo XVI, 123-156. ‘The History of Consumption in a Trans-Atlantic Perspective 37 called consumer revolution and its mechanisms, Some years ago, N. McKendric explained how Old Regime societies ~ which were conceived in this way as self enclosed ~ were subject to what he called “trickle down" This entailed a process of emulation in which different sectors of society, first the mercantile bourgeois, then the artisans and urban middle classes, and finally the peasants, imitated the forms of consumption of aristocratic elites. The result would have been a change in the field of consumption. This change would entail “the necessary convalsion from the demand side’, which would lead to the industrial revolution. In McKenrick’s view, this process, accompanied by the development of modern marketing techniques, took place due to the rise ofa new type of society in which status distinctions had disappeared. In this way, the theory not only emphasized emulation, but also, in comparison to previous eras, came to affirm that emulation was impossible in the core of a corporate society predating the society of classes.47 As itis well known, McKendrick’s theory has subsequently suffered strong critiques. Historians from southern Europe, in particular, have emphasized the need to admit a plurality of models forthe transition toa consumer society" Fur- thermore, some historians, like M. Berg, are trying to understand changing pat- {crns of consumption in the context of the global interlinking between Europe and other societies.® But more important for this chapter's argument, what we have learnt about the arrival of American products completely invalidates McKendrick’s ‘model and the whole model of consumption changes based only on endogenous European forces. Products such as tobacco and chocolate are very interesting in this respect. M. Norton has demonstrated, for example, that tobacco was intially adopted by ‘mariners and merchants who, bit by bit, extended it to other sectors of society, in cluding the nobility. This obviously creates an exception ~ it is not the only one ~ (o the trickle-down theory and underlines the Importance of external non- Euro: pean forces. Chocolate, studied by B. Lindorfer and Irene Fattacciu in their doc toral theses, is another interesting case.®° Although first consumed among noble elites, the consumption of chocolate initially confronted more than a few medical- type prejudices and, in particular, for our interests, could not be popularized until a great variety of types had been produced. Moreover, its mass consumption was ‘7 N. MeKexoaicx, The Consumer Revolation in Fightenth Century England, ln N. McKenD~ sick. Baswen/. 1. Pounes (El), Te Birth of Consumer Sacety, The Commercialiation of ightenth Century England. Londen ~ Bloomington 1982.9 48 See for example G, Livt,Comportements, esurces, process avant la revolion’ dela consom sation, In: Reve (El) Jeux décheles, La miero-analyse experience Pare 1996, 185-207. 49M. Beno, In Pursuit of Lunury: Global History and British Consumer Goods inthe Eightsenth Century I ast and Present 182, 1 (2008), 85-142 sO M. Nomron, Sacred Gifs, Profane, Pleasures: History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Alan tic World, Ithaca 2008; 8 LvponrER, Cosmopolitan Aristocracy and the Diflason of Baroque Cite: Cutoral Transfer frm Spin Asti in the Sevententh Century: PAD thesis Florence 2009; 1. Fartacenv. Atos the Atlin: Chocolate Consumption, Imperial Poltia! conoaes sud fo Beslan tof Soacien braless cio eee) Fa Eels Paes 31 34 Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla 28 of New Granada, studied by L. M. Cérdoba Ochoa.” According to Valcércel, “many of their elders’ superstitions adhere like a pestilent contagion” to the Indi, ans’ way of dressing. Consequently, he says, to change their clothing was one of the main weapons for evangelization, as important as destroying idols or teaching ‘hem Spanish. This occasion may be one in the history of humanity when the mor. al discourse has been most closely associated with lifestyles and changes in patterns of consumption and material culture. Yet, and in spite ofthese attempts to introduce European habits, the process through which American populations adopted European models and demanded products from the metropolis must have been slower than we used to think. There ‘were, no doubt, commonalities between Americans’ and Europeans’ material cul tures, In the context of a long description of Tenochtitlan in which Cortés evokes European motifs, he even says that “these people live almost lke those in Spain, and in as much harmony and order as there, and considering that they are barbarous and so far from the Knowledge of God and cutoff from all civilized nations, iis truly remarkable what they have achieved in all things” But itis also discernible in the naration that Corts, ike many other agents of the conquest and colonization of America, was making an effort to understand the lo- cal material culture and the city itself through the European paradigms.” [tis cer- tain that what he called wine was maize liquor, that the wool was very different fiom the European, and many parts of the text give the impression that the only ‘way to explain the novelties he was seeing was by looking for something similar but not the same in his own mind. The initial lack of correspondence and distance between the European and American patterns of consumption was notorious, as it was highlighted by Juan Ginés de Sepiveda when he wrote: “These and those Ipeoples] exchanged things without value for others of value, according tothe ap. Praisal of those who gave, and things of value for others of no value at all, accord. ing tothe appraisal of those who received ‘The fact that Sepiilveda stressed the rationality of this apparent paradox by evoking that both Spanish and Indians valued these goods only by consder- ing “their natural value and necessity’, which was different inthe two cultures, isa clear proof ofthe distance between both groups inthis sense. The exchange af pre sent also important in both societies, commerce and extortions would play a role in merging the diferent material cultures, 37 LM, Connosa Ociton, Guerra, impetloy violencia ena audienia de Santa Fe, Nuevo Reino de Granada, 1580-1620, PhD tess Seville 2012, 448-465 | thank Luis Migucl Cuda Ochos fr his comments on some pats ofthis text 28 1.Conrs,Leters fom Mexico (Transat and ete by A, Pagden with an introduction by JM. Eliot), New Haven ~ London 1986, 108 29. Cons, Laters as note 38, 102 anf 40 SerOuveoa, Historia as note 33,95, ‘The History of Consumption in a Trans- Atlantic Perspective 35 But the process had to be slower than one could expect. The narration of Duran (1582) and, even mote so, the account of Varcarcel (1637), to quote only tsvo writings, are very indicative of the long-lasting resistance of many native In dians to adopting cultural references that for them entailed aberrations and ways of breaking their own habits ‘This is even more understandable if one considers that among some American peoples, crucial aspects of material culture, such as dressing, conveyed a strong sense of belonging to particular imagined communi: ties. the way of dressing could even be codified asa part of different tribes ident ties, as happened in Peru according to Acosta. In other words, cultural distance and different forms of material culture rendered impossible in a massive way, and at least for some time, something that economists consider automatic: the adjust: ment of supply to demand. "the eenson of Spanish influence an, there the creation of mar ket for Castilian products, appeared slow in terms of geographic as well as social penetration. The demographic hecatomb among the original Amerindian popula- tion, the social disintegration of many communities, the consequent growth oft number of Indian vagabonds also a way of resistance in many cases, or even the fact that for some Spaniards there was no reason to change Indians’ material cul- tures and other similar factors aborted much of the theoretical possibility of such a market “The economic policy from the Peninsula, both in Portugal and Spain, act- ed in the same sense. Many years ago, C. Haring observed that, although erratic, Spanish economic policies in America were oriented to the development of crops and industries capable of satisfying the needs of the Spanish community there.*? Far from a mercantilist policy. they promoted the production of Spanish goods in ‘America, thus creating another reason for the delay in the Castilian industrial de- velopment. The ease ofthe textile production promoted in some areas and the de velopment of the obrajes (American workshops) is very meaningful.!® “Gr “Ore hing adhe eur mach warning the ching and dresofthe Indians as sinpe anny be editeret never proving. spell in ht dey eon Oe ed hich israel uy nal nn hs von ee lence ic hgh ord cpr hpor see anda way eae thowsands of dirences ant war an inal that none should change the thing ad habit oth Province alt be moved to anehe whch the Inca conser ey portant fr god government ety shogh wih ce ha ee (ny toss), de Acetate Moral dl Nace Mind, Boke Cape XV 42 Crt ani, Comercio nmepacn ete xp ys Inde I pcs de esha Mexico 197. The wok atrial pblibd in Epi in 1918 dk erence on merednteran coon I Fronecavo (cp) Eras bret desaallo economic de México y América aio (1800-1978) Mec 199, 257-20 Mio Guinn, a manufac rpc compari ee ere anda ye novohispano nH. Row 4), lesa celal na Armée espal alone 19 32 Bartolomé Yan-Casalilla ‘new Since the seminal work of Carol Shamas, a good deal of research has been car Fied out.28 Furthermore, as far as the history of consumption and material culture has increasingly focused on particular products, the Atlantic has become a priv ileged area of interest. From Mintz’s ground breaking book on sugar until the re: cent works on tobacco, cacao and chocolate, coffee, rie, etc. the production in this sensei really impressive.” This is not the place to summarize this literature} Yet, placing this historiography and other evidence in the context ofthe shift in Atlan tic history and in relation to current views of European social history may lumi: nate the way European history could be written in the future. In the classic understanding it was believed that Europeans could very easi ly introduce their habits and material culture into Atlantic worlds. Thisidea, more- cover, lurks behind the image of America as crucial market for European prod- ets and has long served to explain the differences in the economic dynamism of empires. Thus, from this perspective, the Spanish Empire in America was a failure. Spain, it is sai, proved unable to take advantage of the enotmous possibilities of ‘American demand for the products of the metropolis, as England would one cen tury later) Nevertheless, a careful reflection on what we know in this respect shows that the extension of European consumption patterns to America proved slow and difficult. As « matter of fact this aspect of Atlantic history offers an excellent ex ample of how trans-national history needs to consider not only processes of trans fer, reception and! asoption among different societies, but also rejections, hybrid zation andl cultural oppositions a least for long periods, among them»? From the time ofthe fist settlers everything possible was done to introduce European customs ("costumbres” for the Spanish conquerors and emigrants) and ‘material culture, not for mercantile reasons, but rather for religious and moral mo- 28 See for example C. Snasins. The Pre Industral Consumer in nda ad America, Cxford 1980, 29. Seeamong many others, SW. Mayra, Sweetness and power: the place of supa in modero histo 1, Nev York 1989, Other cass in J, BauwerJE Taexrwans (Ed), Consuoning Caltares, Glob al Perspectives, Historical trajectories. Trans National Exchanges Oxford ~ New fork 2006, A. Novzswapet/ Taawraawy (Ed), Food and Globalization. Consumption, Marke sand Pais Inthe Modern World, Oxford -New York 2008; or. TopiwiC. Maniciat/Z.Frare (El) From Silver to Cocsne. Latin American Commodity Chains and the Building ofthe Werld Economy, 1300-2000, Durham ~ London 2006, 20 Though perforce incomplete, the reader ean attempt a summaczing some works in C. A. Wit ‘aus, Introduction, Briging the Early Modern Atlantic Wold In: A. Winant (2). eid lng the Early Modern Atlantic World, People, Prodits, and Practices on the Move London 2003, 1-31, and more in particule 22-26 31 develop hete some ides tht were already presented in ess detailed way in & Yur-Casattsa Entre mina a mercado. fue América una oportunidad perdida paral econonia espanol? In D.Gancta Hennax (Ed), La historia sin complejo: Ia nseva vision del Imperio exranol (etud ‘sen honor de Jon Eliot) Madsid 2010, 204-229 32 Foragencralview see A. BAUER, Goods, Power, story: Latin Americas Material Culture Ca bridge 2001, who underne thence to understand the supply demand lationship sa prodct of very diverse and complex forces. ‘he History of Consumption in a Trans-Atlantic Perspective 35 tives linked to the European idea of civilization and Christianity. Conquerors and missionaries started talking about the need to cover bodies, to introduce good hab- its of dress and consumption, certainly, about "policia’ a term associated with the life of the “polis” and with civility.» Although these conquerors did not prioritize mercantile intentions, in their minds “civilization” implied European or Europe nized forms of civil conduct, material culture and consumption, As many Span- iards pointed out, this change in the Indians’ habits was crucial, an important step forward, for what was said to be the main aim of the Spanish presence in America: the conversion of the Indians to Christianity. One can find this hidden, or implicit, association in many of the arguments given by soldiers and missionaries to justify their actions. The discourse was also present among theoreticians such as Sepalve da, who defended the need to change the Indians’ habits (costumbres) and to in still among them the “natural laws” But what exactly did costumbres entail for the early madern Spanish and Portuguese? As Tsvetan Todorov has pointed out in his study of Diego Durén’s ideas, some Iberian emigrants considered indigenous social uses and traditions (costumbres) to be embedded in idolatry, and that they should therefore “disappear and fallin oblivion" IL not strange, therefore, that, though some people ike the Jesuits thought tat Indian’ orginal abt shouldbe respected, many others considered that an entire culture including its social prac- tices and material components, not only its religious beliefs, had to be removed and exchanged for the European counterparts. “Superstition and idolatry’, wrote Duran, “are everywhere: in the sowing and the harvest, in the storage of grain, in the way to plough the fields, in the construction of the houses, in the wakefulness of the dead of in the funerals, in the matrimony and the birth’. If this was the ‘case with the Chichimecas in New Spain who so much wortied Duran, these ideas are even more clearly expressed in the narration of Juan de Valcarcel on the Muis- “fem cal seal thos epesion in} Gin Dr Sapuven, Hiri de Nae Mu do nostra Lato nd nb A amie de Vg, Mads 998, Courment.-Isuppesedthese and ther sage sd abun oxo pon pin of et. Sea gre acta cre one to edn he Incl omelet and ward the {Cnn religion an past imprtn to note th Sepulveda ext very much bed She pvr tty the apn Gomal Ferner de Oviedo (Histor general ns ‘Sea dea nn Madd 1955) 34. Torin de epedn who, i, flowed Feiner de Oviedo and other congo atch ‘izmin Conn and ho was the os important opponent fartlord ax Cars the Tamocedipnc of Valaiton theatre he indians wa rst cen o conga snd 0 thle the trons peoples ia toe wo ply and openly have unoaral canons tata) even yf of arms they poeta obeying the pome f eoples are Calan cv, ego hat thoy be oven by tha ey and are cos Seonox Lacmeotta ss 90% 266. A modern versién of Duriin’s text, can be found in ole Mexico 967 he 35 Toono, La conguét, 3 pote 11, 245 (1 B,Dundny Historia de as Indias de Nueva Espa eas de Tera fre, original tent i of 158 36 Ousted in Toponoy, La conquéte, as note 11,251, my own translation. 30 Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla ess ofthe intensification ofthe relations and the competition between Europe and ‘Asia from which the Atlantic is often absent or relegated to a rather passive role Yet, and this is the paradox, it is obvious that very few histotlans today consider the Atlantic a closed ocean comprising autonomous systems in themselves. Schol- ats of the circulation of precious metals have emphasized the flow of silver be yond the frontiers ofthis ocean and some, like Flynn and Girildez, have suggest: ced that the increasing need for silver that led to the explosion of the Spanish min: ing system in Latin America was provoked by crucial changes in the Chinese fi. «al system.*¥ The conneetions with the Pacific have become ever-more visible, in Clearly, the borders between these two views of the Atlantic are not easy to draw. On the one side, the study of the Atlantic from the political, military and in stitutional perspective that emphasizes the view from the top isstill very much pr sent among historians. It is particularly prevalent amongst historians who look at this ocean and the different empires acting across it from the perspective ofthe po- litical economy: a very promising, view among economic historians. On the other side, the perspective from below, the emphasis on hybridization is something that started many years ago. In this sense the “new” Atlantic histary is less new than one 23 D.O Furww/A. Gunduprz, China and the Manila Galeon In: D. ©. Buy (Ed), Word iver and Monetary History inthe 16and 17®cenuries,Akershot ~ Brookfield 1996 24S, Sumnarmeatyan, Holding the Woddin Balance: The Connected Histories ofthe Iberian Over- se Empires, 1500-1640. Ins American Histoial Review 12,5 (2007), 1359-185, 25. Seeamong other works ofS. Gnuzinsk, Las cuatro partes del mundo, Histor de na mundi "acin Mexico 2010, Se also the special emphasis on the circulation of plans, people and prod ‘vets of A. JR Rosseti-Woon, The Portugues Empte. A World on the Move, 45-188 ‘amore ~ London 1998. Apart from Subvahmanyan the dea of the connections cen Asa tnd America throughout the Portuguese networks which operated in both aeas across the Af «an coast was well supported by IC, Bowaran,Partguese Bakers at the Cout of Span, 1626. 1650, New Brunswick, NJ 1983; and .C. Horattay, Portuese Trade io Asa under the Habs burgs 15801640, Baltimore 1993. This i something very much present in B. Yun-Casatiten {as insttuctons yl economia politica de Ia Monarguia Hispinica (1492-1713). Una perspec va transnacional.In:F RaMos PaLENciA/B, YUN Casatst2a (B.), Economia Politica dade Es. tambul a Potos,Chadades estat, imperis y merados en el Meilerineo yen Attic he coc 12001800, Valencia 2012, 139-162. A eri ink of the relation Between America and ‘Asia the Mana Galon, has inspired much recent eesearch, Se in this espect | Gacy, Cla Trade Circulation and Consumption of Asan Goods inthe Atlantic Work. The Mani Galle fons and the Social Elites of Merico and Seville (1540-1640), PAD thesis Florence 2012, And the list could be easily extended, ‘The History of Consumption ina Trans-Atlantic Perspective 31 might think. Its also evident that a balance between all these trends is desirable and present in the most important synthesis No historian would deny, however, that the Atlantic of 2012 differs greatly from that of thirty years ago. ‘The reasons for this change, or shift of accent, are of a very diverse nature and cannot be explained here in detail. But some are very obvious and can be pro: posed in a synthetic manner. The growing interest in entangled histories and trans- national history, the aforementioned rise of a so-called new history of empires, the increasing weight of anthropology among historians - who emphasize crose-fert lization and contacts among cultures - the impulse of network analysis among us and the conceptualization of social relations through it, the ever-growing interest in African history the inexorable Latinization and multicultural character of the United States, where many of these proposals have emerged, the crsis of historical narrative within the strict and sole framework of the nation state, the revision of the concept of the state asa category applicable to the early modern period - all of these and other, more general, fictors not specific to Atlantic history have had no: table influence in shaping this new vision. Furthermore, and markng the character ofthis shift in historiographical ‘emphasis, the change in our view of Atlantic history runs parallel to that which has taken place in the history of other seas, The Baltic Sea, the Sea of China and, above all, the Mediterranean, where Braudel created the model that we apply to the Allantic today, are examples of parallel processes ~ not to mention the history of, Europe itself, which we construct today with a vocabulary of transfers, networks, cultural mediations, entanglements, etc., and in which there is also a tendency to ‘overcome the narrative of the nation state? How will this new balance in our vision of Atlantic history affect the history of Eu rope? Although one cannot say now with any certainty at this time, ts possible to foresce some possible effects ‘One reflection provides 1 necessary point of departure that can also be ap- plied to global history, be it comparative and/or trans-‘national’, Both Atlantic and global history should be important not only for what they tell us ~ Europe- ans ~ about other continents ~ Asia, Aftica or America -, but also for what they teach us about the history of Europe and about Burope itself, for itis lear that Eu rope appears different from the outside, fact that obliges us to rectify certain fea- tutes of is history. Given the central interest of this volume, 1 will ake as an example of more ‘general historiographical changes the history of consumption and material cul: ture on both sides of this oceanic complex. ‘The interest of historians of consump: tion and material culture in both shores ofthe Atlantic and their connections is not 26 See the combination ofboth in Cavw¥/MoxGan, Oxford Handbook, as note. oon ees 28 Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla Europe's path to modernity depended upon its role inthe Atlantic. In this way, they shape our present-day idea ofthe history of Europe: a successful area, the frst in dustralized continent, the core of modernity and civilization, ‘What we could call “New Atlantic history” has changed many of these pre sumptions. The explosion of studies on the Atlantic ~ in some cases linked to polit ical trendl, as Bailyn pointed out!’ ~ has produced a very complex and contrasting scenario. One could even say tha, in spite ofthe different syntheses trying to im ose coherence on an impressively rich historiography, many distinct tendencies can be identified. Yet, some specific trends tend to balance the previous tendency. “The highly “negotiated” character of the Atlantic empires has been recog, nized. This characteristic, it has to be said, is not an exclusive feature of Atlantic history but something present in the history of empires in general. ‘The fact, which Greene and others noted in relation to the British Empire, has been reflected in the studies of historians like Lynch and various Luso-Brasilian scholars regarding the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Furthermore, i is interesting to see that this fea ture has been recognized by some experts on the Iberian empires even before the terminology was coined and stressed for the British Empire! These authors high- light the existence of less hierarchical relations in the government of these empires and, more particularly, the high degree of negotiation existing between centre and periphery ot, to be more precise, between the European centre and the colonial elites. The deeply interconnected societies in this Atlantic also maintained impor- tant degrees of local autonomy. In this view Europeans’ capacity to impose their ‘own will appears more controversial and the idea of “continuous change and adap. tation rather then {sic] termination” i also very much present.!6 Such a perspective agrees with attempts to view the Atlantic as a bottom-up system, Thus, according to many historians today, the Atlantic should be under stood as something more than a space where governments exercise power through formal institutions. It should also be understood as a system of contacts between social groups on both sides ofthe ocean, where politcal borders are less relevant, as Alison Games has said.!” Merchants, emigrants, missionaries, men of letters, slaves, even animals, plants, and microbes have situated themselves as the protag, onists ofa series of relations, cultural transfers, emigeations, cashes of identities, etc. Many historians today emphasize the role of these agents, particularly emi 1B Bally, Alani History. es note 53-55, 1 Ch. Daninis MLV: Kesey (Ed), Negotiated Empires: Centres an Peripher inthe Amer 1500-1820. New York - Londen 2002 particularly A. Tusawex Bustiwrts/1.P. Gaeen, In oton. In: ber, 1-14},and LP GREEN, Transtlaci Calonization andthe Redefntlon of Empieein the Farly Modern Ea. The British American Experience bide, 267-282 15, J Faacoso/M. F Bteatso/M. De F Gouvea (Ed), O Antigo Regine nos teipsos: a dinimica lanpril portugues (sculos XVL-XVID, Ri de Janeiro 2001, 16. N. Cavxv/P Morgan Introduction: The Making and Unmaking ofan Atlantic World. ts Cax NuMorcan, Oxford Handbook, 3 note 5 3 17 A. Gawes,Allantic History: Dfintions, Challenges, and Opportunities In: The American His torical Review 111, 3 (2008), 9-36, passim, r The History of Consumption in a Trans-Atlantic Perspective 29 _grants of all types, in the transmission of products, consumption patterns and ways ‘of material culture in general. All ofthis makes the Atlantic much more complex ‘and more in need of study from below and not only from the institutional perspec- tive ofthe exercise of power. ‘As a result, the Atlantic has become an intercultural space. “Intermingling” is becoming a key word.'® More than a few scholars today vindicate the need to ‘emphasize the Atlantic’s cultural and ethnic variety over the imposition of “Eu- ropean” uniformity in this process, Thus, “diversity” and “hybridisation” are also fashionable terms; sometimes replacing the more Iberian (and restrictive) “mest za. In elaborating a history from below, many specialist in the Atlantic have vin- dicated the importance of processes that did not depend on the parallel formation ‘of nation states in Europe and America and that are sometimes presented as in- dependent from the political, military, and economic perspective prevalent in the study of empires for many years.!? In this way, Atlantic history has been able to present itself as an alternative to the narrative ofthe nation state into which there have long been attempts to enclose history in general and the history of western civilization in particular29 ‘This approach makes even more evident the presence of African cultures as historical agents and not merely passive actors in a European Atlantic. Moreover, the African presence is claimed as multicultural in itself, given the enormous di versity of African societies projected towards the ocean since 1492 and whose pres- cence increased after the seventeenth century. This presence was capable of generat- ing very different models of social hybridization in the Americas Asif this were not enough, today the interculturalty between Fast and West, in the Atlantic is juxtaposed against the need to understand contacts among the different societies situated on ether side ofthe ocean as well. The relations between ‘Americans of the north and Americans ofthe south are becoming a subject of par- ticular interest. Some authors have examined cultural borrowings among the di verse Atlantics, emphasizing contributions thatthe Catholic Iberian Atlantic may have made to the Protestant and Anglo-Saxon northern Atlantic! ‘The notion of cultural transfers and malti-directional contacts has led ~ as in the very influen: tial book by J. H. Elliott ~ to the need for comparisons; in this author's case, to the comparison of different imperial trajectories 2 “The explosion of global history has also had an impact on the notion of At lantic history. Ths situation has even given way to a paradox that merits discus- sion. More than a few historians have implicitly identified globalization as a pro- 1 CaNwr/MonGans Introduction, = mot 16,3. 19) Guts, Another set, as note 6, psi, 20 J CaRizanrs-EscunEA/E. R.Seeaax (Fd), The Alaticin Goal History, 100-2000, Upper Sede River 2007 22 J Etisors Empires ofthe Atantc World, Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830, New Haven soos, 26 Bartolomé Yun-Casailla (o it, is mostly based on the “histoire croisée” (er entangled history) and on n work analysis! " ” In recent years Atlantic history has undergone important changes in terms of the choice and focus of the subjects under study. Authors including David Armitage, Alison Games, Donna Gabaccia, Jorge Canizares Ezguerra, Bernard Bailyn, Philip Morgan or Nicolas Canny and many others have noted this trans- formation.» The classic view is very much related to a long tradition of natratives linked also to the established history of empires in which political, military, and economic history prevailed.® The Atlantic has long been conceived, and stil is to- day, as an area dominated by Europe, The study of empires, frst the Portuguese and Spanish, then the Dutch and British, has dominated historians’ analytical per- spectives. ‘Thus it was the European perspective, through the lens of the struggle among different monarchies or states in formation, from which the history of the Allantic was viewed. Rather than as a space in itself, the Atlantic has sometimes been presented as an arena for European political and economic competition. As «consequence of this perspective, the Atlantic was understood, above all, in the framework of the retrospective narrative of European nation states created in the 19"? century. According to this view, there had existed backward nations, like Spain, and Portugal, that produced economically backward, politicaly intolerant and cul turally traditional empires, whereas others, particularly Britain, had built dynam. ic, civilizing, and modern empires. ‘They did so, moreover, of thelr own volition, thanks to their unique force and their specific and modern characters, This Atlan. tic was identified almost exclusively with America and the relations between Eu- opean nations and American colonies. Africa had been attributed a very passive role, appearing almost exclusively as the provider of slaves for the New World's plantation economies. ‘The Atlantic, moreover, hae been considered as a relatively closed, almost autonomous, system with rather weak connections to other areas of the world? Concepts such as “triangular trade” exemplify very well the existence of a system ‘of inter-costal relations that were accorded notable importance. In precisely this 4 Seealso Yor, Localism at note? 5, See among others the induction wo D. ARM‘ tAGE/M. J BRAnDIcK (Ed), The British Allan ic Word, 1500-1800, Basingstoke ~ New York 2002; E. Gaaceta, A Long Atlantic in a Wider ‘Wo In: Atlante Studies 1 (2008), 1-27, Caitzanes Esctinnea, Puritan Congulstador, be ‘anzing the Atlantic, 1350-1700, Stanford 2006, 8: Bans, Allantic History. Concepts and con tours. Harvard 2006, P MoxcaN/N, CaN, The Oxford Handbook ofthe llantic World, 50 1850, Cambridge, MA 2011 6 Though not related othe Ailantic, much ofthe remoning of D. Gitoss, Anos set of imperil Turns? In; American Historical Review 117, 3 (June 2012), 772-793, can be easly transposed to 7 Foradiscussonofthisaspect, see N, CaN Atlantic History and Global History InP Gaeen! Mona (Ea), Alastic History. A Critical Appraisal. ford 2009, and PMonGas]. Gates, Introduction, The present state of Atlantic History In: Ibidem, 3-33. The History of Consumption in a‘Trans-Atlantic Perspective 7 sense, Balyn’s formula of an “Atlantic system’ was implanted.® At the same time, some historians like H. Pietschmann have underlined the need to talk about differ ent Allantic systems, in plural, rather than of a unity? ‘All these constructs imply that the Atlantis was studied especially, but not exclusively, from a top-down perspective, starting with the polities and the institu tional organization of empires that materialized in different economic and social ‘models. Although historians have been concerned with societies’ blendings, mes tizaje, and the complex play of identities, for yearssuch interests remained outside of the mainstream discourse about the Atlantic. 1t could be said that this image is simplistic, Indeed, itis, and needs to be

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