ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the place of cameral science in eighteenth-century Spanish political-economic thought, with an emphasis on two Spanish translations of Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi’s Elements of Police (Grundsätze der Polizeywissenschaft, 1756). These translations were part of a common initiative disseminating European economic ideas to shape the ongoing Bourbon reforms to improve the vast intercontinental territories of the Spanish monarchy. This dissemination was promoted by individuals involved in the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country in the Crown of Aragon interested to increase the happiness of the people, to promote the liberty of trade, to adopt new techniques to improve agriculture and mining, and to encourage the colonization of uninhabited areas via military-directed settlement. Rather than a unilateral process, the Bourbon reforms came from two different sources: the Aragonese party and the powerful group of ministers that represented Castilian interests. The Spanish Inquisition mediated this contest at the court of Madrid. However, despite its attempts at obstructing public discussion, economic matters reached a high theoretical level permeating Spanish society and contributing to the development of a public sphere. Spanish economic discussion fostered an enlightened cultural movement from which there was no turning back.
