LOCAL HISTORY AS GLOBAL HISTORY? WEAKNESS AND RESILIENCE OF EARLY MODERN SELF-ORGANISED PORTUGUESE COMMERCIAL COMMUNITIES：THE CASE OF MACAO IN THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES本地歷史作為全球歷史？近代自治葡萄牙商貿團體的弱勢(16與17世紀澳門的案例)
The article reassesses the importance of self-organized Portuguese commercial communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, taking Macau and its networks with Southeast Asian ports—especially trade with Japan—as a privileged case. Starting from the question of whether “local history” can b...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
2014
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40047/2365 |
| Summary: | The article reassesses the importance of self-organized Portuguese commercial communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, taking Macau and its networks with Southeast Asian ports—especially trade with Japan—as a privileged case. Starting from the question of whether “local history” can be interpreted as “global history,” the author argues that these formations, often situated on political margins and operating with relative autonomy from the direct control of empires and authorities (Portuguese, Castilian, Chinese, and Japanese), were simultaneously vulnerable and resilient. Vulnerability resulted from interferences and political, economic, religious, and military risks; resilience emerged from adaptive responses that allowed the networks to maintain themselves, negotiate, and at times thrive.
Methodologically, the study mobilizes documentation from Portuguese and, above all, Spanish archives, proposing a comparative reading that highlights mercantile strategies and schemes of agents through reports and records. By identifying communities and individuals, the threats they faced, and the solutions they formulated, the article concludes that the transnational scale of exchanges does not stem solely from imperial structures, but also from the flexible action of peripheral actors. Thus, the trajectory of Macau demonstrates how maritime and commercial networks enabled the circulation of goods, people, and ideas, contributing to convergences and historical reconfigurations of global scope. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |