| This dissertation studies politics, political culture and fiscal policies in the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata in the late colonial period (1784-1809). Part one analyzes conflicts and disputes among officers and institutions during a period of intense political, economic, social and religious transformations (Bourbon Reforms). The nature of the clashes (political, ceremonial, jurisdictional), the strategies employed by political adversaries (patronage networks, secret investigations, special legal appeals) and their resolutions show that, in the process of state centralization, the imperial administration was in constant dialogue with local elites and institutions. This section additionally studies the social and cultural dimensions of power. By analyzing the ritual and symbolic aspects of feuding (vengeful attitudes, humiliating gestures, excessive displays of kindness and generosity) it demonstrates that the process of achieving obedience was very personal and closely connected to the preservation of honor and rank.; Part two studies fiscal policies and financial strategies employed by Spanish monarchs from the 1790s to the end of the colonial period, a time of constant international warfare. Opposition to fiscal reform forced the crown to solicit loans and donativos (voluntary donations) instead of enforcing direct taxation. Loans and donativos quickly yielded significant funds. However, they revealed the weakness of the "fiscal state" as individuals and groups separately negotiated their contributions. Unable to tax at will, the crown had no other choice but to rely on the collaboration of local institutions and powerful men (merchants, Consulado and Cabildo) for its financial survival. Finally, this study employs donativos in an innovative fashion, ascribing to them the capacity to measure indirectly monarchical consensus over time. The statistical analysis of donativos by region and social group demonstrates that, despite profound political and social transformations, the monarchy enjoyed widespread support until the very end of the colonial period. Following the historiography available for early modern Europe, this dissertation characterizes the Bourbon administration in Rio de la Plata as a system based on negotiation, cooperation and consent between local powers and imperial institutions. As such, it challenges the myth (still accepted among Latin Americanists) of Bourbon absolutism as despotic, autocratic and bureaucratic. |
