Processes of construction of "the Ethnic" in Michoacan, Mexico, and Cajamarca, Peru. Translocational positionalities of indigenous migrants under colonial rule.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Sarah Albiez-Wieck
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 279111734

Employing a comparative perspective, this project investigates two research questions: First, from which point in time onwards is the social categorisation of ethnicity reasonably applicable as an analytical category in the precursors of the present nation states Mexico and Peru? Second, which significance did it have in comparison with other social categorisations? The project focuses on the individual strategies of indigenous migrants of changing (tribute) categories in so-called peticiones de cambio de fuero. These petitions to change the jurisdiction reflect the positioning of migrants in the colonial society, which shall be analysed as translocational positionalities (Anthias). Indigenous migrants have not yet been in the spotlight of research, but it is to be expected that they enjoyed a considerable leeway when negotiating social categorisations. Furthermore, the sources that are already available point to an interesting network of relationships with indigenous nobility and people of African descent, which was further differentiated by gender roles.I seek to determine whether the different legal categorisations of migrants -which were referred to by different terminologies in Mexico and Peru- gave rise to forms of belonging that could be labelled ethnic, or if they led to an erosion of broader ethnic categorisations. The project focuses on developments in the colonial era and is complemented by a short exploration of potentially relevant (dis-)continuities with the previous prehispanic and the subsequent republican era.The diachronic perspective is supplemented with a synchronic comparison between the regional colonial centres Cajamarca in Northern Peru and Michoacán in West Mexico. Despite their central role, which predates the Spanish colonial empire, Mexico and Peru have scarcely been compared. Especially the analysis of secondary centres promises new findings. The project will put an emphasis on answering the following questions: First, whether potential differences in significance, periodization, and moulding of migration and (ethnic) categorisations can be attributed to continuities with prehispanic times or whether they can be found in a regionally differing articulation of colonial politics by the Spaniards. Second, if the analysed social conditions temporarily outlived the colonial era. The findings promise to bear relevance for current debates regarding the topic of indigeneity.Methodically, the project focuses on the analysis of peticiones de cambio de fuero and related documents. Since translocational positionalities have not been analysed from a historical perspective, a secondary objective is the (further) development and adaptation of methodological instruments, starting from an innovative combination of elements of network analysis and conceptual history.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants