Over the past half millennium, from circa 1450 until the last third or so of the twentieth century, much of the worldâs history has been influenced in great part by one general dynamic and complex historical process known as European expansion. Defined as the opening up, unfolding, or increasing the extent, number, volume, or scope of the space, size, or participants belonging to a certain people or group, location, or geographical region, Europeâs expansion initially emerged and emanated physically, intellectually, and politically from southern Europeâspecifically from the Iberian peninsulaâduring the fifteenth century, expanding rapidly from that locus to include, first, all of Europeâs maritime and, later, most of its continental states and peoples. Most commonly associated with events described as the discovery of America and of a passage to the East Indies (Asia) by rounding the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) during the early modern and modern periods, European expansion and encounters with the rest of the world multiplied and morphed into several ancillary historical processes, including colonization, imperialism, capitalism, and globalization, encompassing themes, among others, relating to contacts and, to quote the EURO seriesâ original mission statement, âconnections and exchanges; peoples, ideas and products, especially through the medium of trading companies; the exchange of religions and traditions; the transfer of technologies; and the development of new forms of political, social and economic policy, as well as identity formation.â Because of its intrinsic importance, extensive research has been performed and much has been written about the entire period of European expansion.
With the first volume published in 2009, Brill launched the European Expansion and Indigenous Response book series at the initiative of well-known scholar and respected historian, Glenn J. Ames, who, prior to his untimely passing, was the founding editor and guided the first seven volumes of the series to publication. Being one of the early members of the seriesâ editorial board, I was then appointed as Series Editor. The seriesâ founding objectives are to focus on publications âthat understand and deal with the process of European expansion, interchange and connectivity in a global context in the early modern and modern periodâ and to âprovide a forum for a variety of types of scholarly work with a wider disciplinary approach that moves beyond the traditional isolated and nation bound historiographical emphases of this field, encouraging whenever possible non-European perspectivesâ¦that seek to understand this indigenous transformative process and period in autonomous as well as inter-related cultural, economic, social, and ideological terms.â
Despite, or perhaps because of, these new directions and stimulating sources of existing and emerging lines of dispute regarding the history of European expansion, I and the editorial board of the series will continue with the original objectives and mission statement of the series and vigorously â⦠seek out studies that employ diverse forms of analysis from all scholarly disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, history (including the history of science), linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, and religious studies.â In addition, we shall seek to stimulate, locate, incorporate, and publish the most important and exciting scholarship in the field.
Towards that purpose, I am pleased to introduce volume 46 of Brillâs EURO series entitled: Europeans as Coastal Brokers in the West and West-Central African Slave Trade (1680â1720).
A project that was researched and executed by Maria Inês Godinho Guarda, this volume joins a growing corpus of work on the early modern transatlantic slave trade. Demonstrating familiarity with the major primary Portuguese and British sources on the topic, she has innovatively undertaken a broad comparative study of the activities of two different European coastal brokers groups in two different regions of Africa over an expanding period of their activities. Heretofore, these enslaving activities have been discussed mostly on a case-by-case basis (as in the history of a certain European fort or a certain stretch of the African coast). It is the first work on the slave trade on the African coast and its expansion that focuses on a comparative study of coastal brokers. Scholars
Focusing on local intermediaries, Europeans as Coastal Brokers contributes to Africanist and Atlantic history scholarship regarding brokerage in the coast of West and West Central Africa and their role in European expansion. Experts in this field have opined that, with very few exceptions, the scholarship on brokerage in Africa has focused on local cultural brokers and intermediaries neglecting the role played by European âmen on the spotâ in connecting inland suppliers to foreign merchants established on the coast. By engaging the question and the definition of who constituted the category of âEuropean coastal brokers,â most of whom were âPortugueseâ or peoples of mixed race that have been referred to as âAfro-Portugueseâ or âLuso-Africans,â this volume demonstrates that not only was European mediation in Africa connected with endogenous trade networks, but also makes the argument that it was desired by the local potentates of the hinterland as a means of increasing their political and economic power over the region.
Europeans as Coastal Brokers, consequently, should be examined, evaluated, and hopefully warmly received by the EURO seriesâ readership.