Gatekeepers of Global Exchange: Jesuit Procurators and the Circulation of Goods in Colonial Paraguay

Artículo

Resumen *

This article analyzes the role played by the procurators of the Jesuit Province of Paraguay in the global circulation of goods, using the mission of Pedro Arroyo and Carlos Gervasoni (1751-1756) as the primary case study. The unfortunate events of this journey led to the production of unusual documentation currently preserved in the Archivo General de la Nación in Buenos Aires. Based on these ‘exceptional normal’ sources and recent scholarship, we argue that procurators’ activities played a crucial role in shaping social relationships, territory, and corporate culture. The Jesuits distributed goods and commodities acquired by procurators across a vast area, forming a network that connected colleges, missions, and individuals through orders, purchases, and gifts, while closely intertwining this global acquisition with the order’s spirituality and identity. This article posits that Jesuits acted as gatekeepers of material culture and knowledge, both stimulating and constraining early modern globalization. Información suministrada por el agente en SIGEVA