French Literature Reviews - 2026

Z.-C.-A. de Moura Ribeiro, Line of Faith: The Society of Jesus and Slavery in the Making of Colonial Society
History, Politics and Society

Line of Faith: The Society of Jesus and Slavery in the Making of Colonial Society

Carlos Alberto de Moura Ribeiro Zeron

Paris: Honoré Champion, coll. "Géographies du monde", 2008.

Price: 67 EUR

EAN 9782745317599

Publisher's overview:

Brazil in the 16th and early 17th centuries served as a laboratory for a unique colonial society, built primarily on the enslavement of Africans and indigenous peoples. The theological and legal justification of this institution places us at the heart of the debates surrounding the historical formation of society in Portuguese America. The analysis centers on the pivotal role played in this development by the Society of Jesus, which acted as one of its fundamental agents, both in Europe and on the ground in the Americas. By examining the often contradictory rationales operating both within and outside the Order, the study reconstructs a complex panorama of major currents of thought and how they reconciled with the lessons of political and (in)human colonial experience. The model of the famous Jesuit reductions, developed in Brazil as early as the 1550s, thus stands at the crossroads of controversies that stirred political, intellectual, and religious authorities from Bahia to Rome, via Luanda and Évora.

The history of Portuguese America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was defined by the establishment of colonial structures that relied on the forced labor of indigenous populations and enslaved Africans. Within this context, the Society of Jesus acted as a central institution, navigating the intersection of theological doctrine and the practical realities of colonial expansion. Readers interested in the history of colonial institutions may find this analysis relevant.

The Jesuit reductions represented a distinct approach to social and religious organization, serving as a focal point for disputes among intellectual and political authorities across the Portuguese empire. The Society of Jesus operated as a fundamental agent in the development of colonial society in Brazil, with its members engaging in debates that spanned from Bahia to Rome, Luanda, and Évora regarding the theological and legal justification of slavery.