Religion and space in colonial South America: a technology of geo-political rule and terrestrial-spatial subjectivity in the Jesuit missions of the Banda Oriental

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on a genealogical analysis of documentary evidence, this paper explores the comprehensive technology of geo-political rule that was applied in the missions established and governed by the Society of Jesus in the territories of the Banda Oriental in South America, from the early 17th century to the second half of the 18th century. The interdependent knowledges and practices of the technology – its contested logics of universal conversion, its hard and soft geo-political techniques, its terrestrial-spatial subjectivities – as well as the resistances that opposed the technology’s operation are discussed and conceptualized. These conceptualizations are presented as contributions to the studies on colonial religious governmentalities. The conclusions highlight the relevance of governmentality approaches and meta-institutional analytical perspectives for the study of religions and space and religious geo-politics in past and contemporary societies.