ABSTRACT
Francsisco Eissa-Barroso describes how recent historiographical interventions depict Spain’s American territories as part of a complex, polycentric and asymmetrical political structure. Madrid was perceived as the legitimate centre for decision-making, and the inhabitants of Spanish America spent vast resources in trying to influence decision-makers at court, with varying degrees of success. Yet, Spanish American elites enjoyed a significant degree of political and economic autonomy. Faced with unquestionable exploitation, discrimination and brutality, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities were also adept at negotiating their position within the Spanish world and shaping political relations. The structure of the Spanish empire was hierarchical and based on assumptions about the superiority of certain individuals and groups over others, but it was also able to accommodate politically, culturally and ethnically diverse communities. Despite gradual changes introduced by reformers in the eighteenth century, most of these characteristics remained largely intact at the end of the early-modern period.
