PhD thesis defence by Paula González Fons
This dissertation examines the rise, development, and transformation of the silk industry in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century New Spain. Following the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica, New Spain was seen as particularly well-suited territory to moriculture and sericulture, due to its climate, soils, and availability of labour. While initial attempts in the Caribbean did not have continuity, New Spain became the most promising site of silk production in the Americas. Drawing from archival, material, and textual sources, this thesis traces the transfer of the silk industry between Spain and New Spain, and how the practices related to this industry were shaped and adapted to local conditions.
Using a chaîne opératoire approach, I reconstruct the entire production chain, from mulberry cultivation and silkworm care to reeling and artisanal manufacture, allowing for a detailed understanding of the relations between environment, labour, technical knowledge and institutional regulation. Special attention is paid to the diversity of labour regimes involved (encomiendas, slavery, and artisans), and to the blurred social and institutional boundaries that enabled women, Indigenous People and Afro-descendants to participate in artisanal labour, presenting a fluid picture of labour in the Novo Hispanic silk industry. The study also analyses the circulation of silk knowledge through treatises, apprenticeship contracts and guild ordinances, revealing the importance of both codified and tacit forms of expertise.
Lastly, this dissertation challenges conventional narratives that attribute the industry’s decline exclusively to external factors such as Chinese silk textile imports or Spanish protectionism, identifying internal complementary explanations such as demographic changes, adverse climatic conditions, and land and labour competition. Ultimately, my research presents the silk industry in New Spain as a continuous story of transfer and adaptation to colonial social, political, cultural and economic contexts, contributing to a better understanding of the colonial political economy and the foundations of imperial ambitions.
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