Collaborative science: Jesuits, Indians and backwoodsman in the cartography of the borders of the Iberian Empires in South America (18th century)

• Grant number: 21/00214-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Science
• Principal Investigator: Denise Aparecida Soares de Moura
• Grantee: Denise Aparecida Soares de Moura
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The scientific knowledge is always a collaborative work between specialists and amateurs in certain circumstances and to solve problems. With the advance of colonization into Brazil, in the 18th century, backwoodsman, indigenous peoples and priests of the Society of Jesus established synchronous or asynchronous partnerships that resulted in the production of written and visual geographical knowledge of territories. This knowledge was later used by royal authorities in colonial spaces and in specialized scientific circles in Europe to support official mapping projects and the creation of cartographic images. The dialogue between backwoodsman, indigenous, religious or cartographers in the construction of geographic knowledge and cartography is not a new topic in historiography. However, there is still a lack of more eloquent evidence to explain the mechanics of this collaborationism. To answer questions with this scope, various handwritten sources and maps from the 18th century will be used, which will be submitted to theoretical-methodological guidelines of the most recent science history, of cartography as a process and through an intersectional approach. This work hopes to contribute to expand the advances that have been achieved in the history of science and cartography in Ibero-American societies of the past in relation to inclusive perspectives for the participation of practitioners and ethnic groups in the production of scientific knowledge. (AU)