Enlightened Reform in Southern Europe and its Atlantic Colonies, c. 1750-1830

Efforts to ascertain the influence of enlightenment thought on state action, especially government reform, in the long eighteenth century have long provoked stimulating scholarly quarrels. Generations of historians have grappled with the elusive intersections of enlightenment and absolutism, of political ideas and government policy. In order to complement, expand and rejuvenate the debate which has so far concentrated largely on Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, this volume brings together historians of Southern Europe (broadly defined) and its ultramarine empires. Each chapter has been explicitly commissioned to engage with a common set of historiographical issues in order to reappraise specific aspects of 'enlightened absolutism' and 'enlightened reform' as paradigms for the study of Southern Europe and its Atlantic empires. In so doing it engages creatively with pressing issues in the current historical literature and suggests new directions for future research. No single historian, working alone, could write a history that did justice to the complex issues involved in studying the connection between enlightenment ideas and policy-making in Spanish America, Brazil, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. For this reason, this well-conceived, balanced volume, drawing on the expertise of a small, carefully-chosen cohort, offers an exciting investigation of this historical debate.

'This lively volume takes a fresh look at efforts to reform and modernize governance in eighteenth-century Europe by focusing on the enlightened reformism of the Southern European monarchies and their colonial empires in the Americas. France and its diminishing New World empire are included for useful comparison. An important book with new perspectives on an old debate.' Professor John H. Coatsworth, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, USA. 'This is a major achievement in eighteenth-century history. By tackling Southern Europe and the New World colonies, it brings multiple peripheries into the narrative of reform of anciens régimes, thereby recasting the global dynamics of competition and change.' Professor Jeremy I. Adelman, History Department, Princeton University, USA. 'This volume is an excellent contribution to the field of Enlightenment and reform policies of Enlightened Absolutist rulers. It covers a very rich diversity of countries and topics that are not usually included in studies on enlightened reform. The editor deserves to be congratulated for assembling articles that demonstrate very convincingly that the Enlightenment's impact went beyond Europe and that the Atlantic colonies constituted an integral part of those phenomena.' Professor Alexander Grab, University of Maine, USA.'An original, comprehensive and notably lively introduction which is henceforth the indispensable starting point for all serious students of enlightened reform in Europe's southern states and their overseas possessions.' Professsor Hamish Scott, University of Glasgow, UK.

Gabriel Paquette is Assistant Professor of History in the Department of History at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. Previously, he was a Research Fellow in European and Latin American History at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He is author of Enlightenment, Governance, and Reform in Spain and its Empire, 1759-1808 (2008).