PHD Discussions Logo

Ask, Learn and Accelerate in your PhD Research

Question Icon Post Your Answer

Question Icon

What new research (post‑2000) exists on early modern trade between Portugal and Brazil, particularly studies that challenge or refine traditional narratives?

I’m drafting a literature review and want to highlight innovative recent scholarship. Older works often presented a simplistic picture of colonial extraction. I’m looking for newer studies that emphasize complexity: the agency of colonial actors, the role of interimperial and inter?colonial trade, the impact of environmental factors, or the use of digital humanities methods (like database reconstruction of ship movements). Are there specific researchers or projects (e.g., the “Forgotten Slaves” project or “Resgate” database) that have produced notable findings?

All Answers (1 Answers In All)

By Jasmin Answered 1 year ago

New research has profoundly complicated the traditional extractive model. Cátia Antunes and Amélia Polónia lead in examining informal and interimperial networks, showing how Luso?Brazilian trade was often mediated through Dutch, English, and Spanish agents. The “Resgate” database project (University of Porto) has reconstructed slave?trading voyages with rich data on Brazilian linkages. For environmental and commodity?focused history, see “Brazil in the Global Economy” (special issue of Journal of Latin American Geography). Also, Júnia Ferreira Furtado’s Chica da Silva: A Brazilian Slave of the Eighteenth Century, while biographical, reveals micro?level trade and credit networks. These works collectively shift focus from a rigid metropole?colony pipeline to a multipolar, networked Atlantic economy where Brazilian ports were dynamic hubs.

Your Answer