Why read The Limits of Racial Domination?

Book cover of The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660–1720

Book description

In this distinguished contribution to Latin American colonial history, Douglas Cope draws upon a wide variety of sources—including Inquisition and court cases, notarial records and parish registers—to challenge the traditional view of castas (members of the caste system created by Spanish overlords) as rootless, alienated, and dominated by a desire…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Limits of Racial Domination as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Andrew Konove

Author

Douglas Cope’s book is a wonderful work of social history that explores how issues of race and class impacted the lives of working people in colonial Mexico City. Cope shows that Spain’s so-called “caste system” was more ideal than reality. A person’s physical appearance, occupation, and social milieu shaped perceptions of their race and ethnicity far more than their lineage, which was not something most people documented in this era. The book combines quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide a rich description of everyday life, bringing readers into artisans’ workshops, market vendors’ stalls, and other spaces where people lived and…

From Andrew's list on The best books about everyday life in Mexico City, from the sixteenth century to today.