Synopses & Reviews
Contemporary natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina are quickly followed by disagreements about whether and how communities should be rebuilt, whether political leaders represent the communityandrsquo;s best interests, and whether the devastation could have been prevented.
Shaky Colonialism demonstrates that many of the same issues animated the aftermath of disasters more than 250 years ago. On October 28, 1746, a massive earthquake ravaged Lima, a bustling city of 50,000, capital of the Peruvian Viceroyalty, and the heart of Spainandrsquo;s territories in South America. Half an hour later, a tsunami destroyed the nearby port of Callao. The earthquake-tsunami demolished churches and major buildings, damaged food and water supplies, and suspended normal social codes, throwing people of different social classes together and prompting widespread chaos. In
Shaky Colonialism, Charles F. Walker examines reactions to the catastrophe, the Viceroyandrsquo;s plans to rebuild the city, and the opposition he encountered from the Church, the Spanish Crown, and Limaandrsquo;s multiracial population.
Through his ambitious rebuilding plan, the Viceroy sought to assert the power of the colonial state over the Church, the upper classes, and other groups. Agreeing with most inhabitants of the fervently Catholic city that the earthquake-tsunami was a manifestation of Godandrsquo;s wrath for Limaandrsquo;s decadent ways, he hoped to reign in the cityandrsquo;s baroque excesses and to tame the cityandrsquo;s notoriously independent women. To his great surprise, almost everyone objected to his plan, sparking widespread debate about political power and urbanism. Illuminating the shaky foundations of Spanish control in Lima, Walker describes the latent conflictsandmdash;about class, race, gender, religion, and the very definition of an ordered societyandmdash;brought to the fore by the earthquake-tsunami of 1746.
Review
andldquo;Charles F. Walker explores the fault lines of colonial society through a painstaking archival study of the controversies that followed the 1746 earthquake-tsunami that nearly wiped out Lima. The analysis of the cityandrsquo;s reconstruction is masterful and multifaceted; it gives a vivid sense of popular and elite understandings of race, gender, religion, and urban space. The book is also an imaginative analysis of how the baroque composite monarchy that was the Spanish empire worked: the absolutist policies of the Enlightenment and the Bourbon Reforms consistently gave way to resistance and negotiation. Shaky Colonialism breaks new ground.andrdquo;andmdash;Jorge Caandntilde;izares-Esguerra, author of Puritan Conquistadors: Iberianizing the Atlantic, 1550andndash;1700
Review
andldquo;As Charles F. Walker shows in this fascinating book, the great earthquake that destroyed Lima in 1746 ruptured along social as well as geological fault lines, exposing profound contradictions between baroque piety, Bourbon Reform, and indigenous identity. Moreover, the extraordinary social aftershocks, ranging from revelation to rebellion, further fragmented Limeandntilde;o society, leaving fissures that are still visible in the modern megalopolis.andrdquo;andmdash;Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums
Review
andldquo;Shaky Colonialism is a superior work of scholarship. Charles F. Walker uses a dramatic incident and its aftermath to present a very intelligent analysis of baroque colonialism and its halting transformation into the Enlightenment-inspired absolutism of the Bourbons. He balances human drama and color to pull the reader into a very serious analysis of colonial society.andrdquo;andmdash;Peter Guardino, author of The Time of Liberty: Popular Political Culture in Oaxaca, 1750andndash;1850
Review
andldquo;The devastating Lima earthquake of 1746 set off huge social and political shock waves in all directions. Charles F. Walkerandrsquo;s beautifully written analysis of andlsquo;great balls of fireandrsquo; and wandering nuns, enlightened reformers, and real and imaginary rebels shows a colonial city deeply at odds with itselfandmdash;well before the notorious crises of the late eighteenth century.andrdquo;andmdash;Kathryn Burns, author of Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru
Review
andldquo;While Walkerandrsquo;s description and analysis of the earthquake-tsunami of 1746 and the subsequent efforts to reconstruct Lima present a fascinating story, his book is particularly important for its careful delineation of the capitalandrsquo;s society and the reforming efforts of Viceroy Manso de Velasco. . . . Shaky Colonialism is an excellent study that every student of eighteenth-century Spanish America and the history of Peru should read.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Shaky Colonialism is a fascinating and forcefully argued book that fills a major gap in the scholarly literature on the early Bourbon period in the viceroyalty of Peru. By focusing on the natural disaster of 1746, Walker presents a rich mosaic of race, ethnicity, gender, Baroque piety and the beginnings of Enlightenment-inspired Bourbon regalism in a major urban centre during this largely under-studied period.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Examines a massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Lima and the coast of Peru in 1746 to analyze reaction to the event in terms of colonial culture and fears, and the dynamics of race, class, and religion in Lima.
Synopsis
A social history of the earthquake-tsunami that struck Lima in October 1746, looking at how people in and beyond Lima understood and reacted to the natural disaster.
About the Author
“Shaky Colonialism is a superior work of scholarship. Charles F. Walker uses a dramatic incident and its aftermath to present a very intelligent analysis of baroque colonialism and its halting transformation into the Enlightenment-inspired absolutism of the Bourbons. He balances human drama and color to pull the reader into a very serious analysis of colonial society.”—Peter Guardino, author of The Time of Liberty: Popular Political Culture in Oaxaca, 1750–1850“As Charles F. Walker shows in this fascinating book, the great earthquake that destroyed Lima in 1746 ruptured along social as well as geological fault lines, exposing profound contradictions between baroque piety, Bourbon Reform, and indigenous identity. Moreover, the extraordinary social aftershocks, ranging from revelation to rebellion, further fragmented Limeño society, leaving fissures that are still visible in the modern megalopolis.”—Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums“Charles F. Walker explores the fault lines of colonial society through a painstaking archival study of the controversies that followed the 1746 earthquake-tsunami that nearly wiped out Lima. The analysis of the city’s reconstruction is masterful and multifaceted; it gives a vivid sense of popular and elite understandings of race, gender, religion, and urban space. The book is also an imaginative analysis of how the baroque composite monarchy that was the Spanish empire worked: the absolutist policies of the Enlightenment and the Bourbon Reforms consistently gave way to resistance and negotiation. Shaky Colonialism breaks new ground.”—Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, author of Puritan Conquistadors: Iberianizing the Atlantic, 1550–1700“The devastating Lima earthquake of 1746 set off huge social and political shock waves in all directions. Charles F. Walker’s beautifully written analysis of ‘great balls of fire’ and wandering nuns, enlightened reformers, and real and imaginary rebels shows a colonial city deeply at odds with itself—well before the notorious crises of the late eighteenth century.”—Kathryn Burns, author of Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru“The devastating Lima earthquake of 1746 set off huge social and political shock waves in all directions. Charles F. Walker’s beautifully written analysis of ‘great balls of fire’ and wandering nuns, enlightened reformers, and real and imaginary rebels shows a colonial city deeply at odds with itself—well before the notorious crises of the late eighteenth century.”—Kathryn Burns, author of Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru
Table of Contents
Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Earthquakes, Tsunamies, Absolutism, and Lima 1
2. Balls of Fire: Premonitions and the Destruction of Lima 21
3. The City of Kings: Before and After 52
4. Stabilizing the Unstable and Ordering the Disorderly 74
5. Contending Notions of Lima: Obstacles to Urban Reform in the Aftermath 90
6. Licentious Friars, Wandering Nuns, and Tangled Censos: A Shakeup of the Church 106
7. Controlling Women's Bodies and Placating God's Wrath: Moral Reform 131
8. andquot;All These Indians and Black People Bear Us No Good Willandquot;: The Lima and Huarochirandiacute; Rebellions of 1750 156
Epilogue: Aftershocks and Echoes 186
Notes 193
Bibliography 223
Index 251