Indigenous Subjecthood: Visions of Freedom and Society in Tehuantepec

My project focuses on analyzing indigenous subjecthood in the Spanish Empire through examination of the Tehuantepec rebellion of 1660-1661. I argue that the analysis of Indigenous subjecthood can reveal the colonial structure of the Spanish Empire. Through my analysis, I find that the Spanish Empire was not heading toward capitalism or “modernity,” but was on its own path of development, with Indigenous subjects at the vanguard. I thus present a new framework for global history that moves away from a linear narrative and instead toward a history containing plural paths of development.