Ernst Pijning’s “Controlling Contraband” fundamentally redefines the understanding of “illegal trade” in 18th-century Rio de Janeiro, arguing that it was not a marginal or purely criminal activity, but rather an integral and often condoned part of the colonial economy and society. The book posits that the distinction between “condoned” and “proscribed” illegal trade was fluid, … Continue reading Controlling Contraband: Mentality, Economy, and Society in Eighteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro