RIVER-SCAPES · Politics of Mobility in Colonial Iberian Waterways (1750-1840)

RIVER-SCAPES: Politics of Mobility in Colonial Iberian Waterways (1750-1840)

RIVER-SCAPES: Politics of Mobility in Colonial Iberian Waterways (1750–1840) is a postdoctoral research project funded by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01). It aims to examine the politics of mobility in two significant, yet understudied, colonial river regions: the Mississippi River, under Spanish imperial rule, and the Zambezi River, under Portuguese colonial governance. The project focuses on the period between 1750 and 1840, a time marked by both the intensification of imperial reforms and the destabilising effects of global revolutionary movements. The project seeks to historicise mobility regimes prior to the advent of the liberal nation-state by analysing how access to movement was managed, negotiated, and restricted in these riverine borderlands. Through the comparative study of these two riverscapes, RIVER-SCAPES explores the interactions between empire, ecology, and subaltern agency, with particular attention to enslaved and Afrodescendant populations, indigenous actors, and imperial authorities. Its interdisciplinary approach combines historical methods with insights from mobility studies and the blue humanities, aiming to reframe rivers not merely as geographical features but as political and social actors in their own right. The overarching objectives of the project include: - Analysing the differentiated experiences of mobility and immobility in colonial river regions. - Investigating how institutions, individuals, and communities produced and contested mobility regimes. - Contributing to broader European debates on colonial legacies, mobility justice, and ecological governance. - Creating an open-access dataset that documents historical cases of mobility control, resistance, and adaptation along the Mississippi and Zambezi rivers. During the first four months of implementation, the focus was placed on integration into the host institution (CHAM – Centro de Humanidades, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa), engagement with scholarly networks, and the preparation of the empirical and methodological framework. These initial steps were crucial in establishing the foundation for future research activities, particularly in terms of building collaborative ties and identifying relevant archival collections. However, shortly after the project began, the researcher was offered a Tenure Track position at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville), a significant opportunity for long-term academic development that could not be postponed beyond late July 2025. This development inevitably impacted the continuation of the project in its originally planned form and will be formally addressed in future communications with the European Commission and the host institution.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз