Agenda

20 April 2023, 1.00PM  |  Malcanton Marcorà (Dorsoduro 3484/D ), Room Biral
Omar Rodriguez, National Autonomous University of Mexico
Nature and government of the New World. From alternative cosmographies to the transformation of the Basin of Mexico

Abstract: 

In order to incorporate the New World within the European conceptual and economic frameworks, a natural and political discourse that justified European hegemony developed. But, at the same time, some alternative narratives and practices questioned this Eurocentric discourse. Authors such as Bartolomé de las Casas and Alonso de la Veracruz not only defended the ability of indigenous peoples to govern themselves but also modified the hegemonic image of the world by transferring the central natural qualities to the Americas. These more positive interpretations were also applied in the case of the Valley of Mexico whose representations used to show a suitable water governance, similar to the depictions of the lagoon of Venice. This harmonious coexistence between Mexico city and its lakes was based on traditional indigenous knowledge, whose expertise was recognized by Spanish rulers. But with the turn of the 17th century, the balance was broken as urban dwellers developed new narratives and projects to drain the lakes to protect the city of Mexico by transforming the closed basin into an open valley.

Part of the lecture series Crisis and Change in Early Modernity: Knowledge, Practice, Governance, organized by:
Jonathan Regier, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage
Pietro Daniel Omodeo, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage Max Planck Partner Group “The Water City” (Max Planck Society / MPI for the History of Science - Berlin), NICHE
ERC “EarlyModernCosmology” (Horizon 2020, GA 725883) Project “EarlyGeoPraxis” (FARE, Italian Ministry of University and Research)
Guest hosted by the ERC EarlyModernCosmology GA 725883 and the FARE EarlyGeoPraxis project ID R184WNSTWH

For information and registration, please contact
Jonathan Regier 
jonathan.regier@unive.it