Researchers from the IberLAND project participated in two academic events held in Mexico.
The first event, titled “Normatividades indígenas en torno a la tierra en la Nueva España, siglos XVI-XIX,” took place in Oaxaca from March 31 to April 1, 2025, at the Unidad de Extensión Universitaria de la UNAM en Oaxaca. It was co-organized with the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Roger Lee de Jesus, postdoctoral researcher, opened the workshop with a keynote lecture titled “Privilegios inmemoriales y uso de la tierra en el contexto colonial: el caso de Goa y el imperio portugués en Asia (siglos XVI-XVII)” (recording available here). PhD candidate Alina Rodríguez Sánchez presented the paper “Cacicazgos, pueblos y la posesión de la sal: Mixteca Alta y Baja, siglo XVI,” while Edson Edy S.C. de Brito (also PhD candidate) chaired the second session and Marlen Donají Palma Silva, research associate, presented a paper on “La defensa de las tierras de los caciques de Cuilapa, siglo xvii: títulos, litigios y estrategias locales”. Manuel Bastías Saavedra, PI of the project, delivered the second keynote lecture, “Instituciones silenciosas. Recentrando las normatividades indígenas en la historia del derecho” (recording available here).
The second event, “Creando derechos sobre la tierra en los mundos ibéricos,” was held in Mexico City from April 3 to 4, 2025, at El Colegio de México. Co-organized by the IberLAND project and the Centro de Estudios Históricos of El Colegio de México, the event began with a presentation of the IberLAND project by Manuel Bastías Saavedra. Roger Lee de Jesus presented his research titled “¿Qué derechos tienen los colonizados sobre su propia tierra? El imperio portugués en Asia y el caso de Goa (siglos XVI-XVII),” and Edson Edy S.C. Correia de Brito presented “Herencia y sucesión: el pasado y el futuro del linaje: Cabo Verde, siglos XVI-XVIII.” Alina Rodríguez Sánchez chaired two sessions during the event. Recordings of the two-day workshop are available here and here.
The project’s new book—Ownership Regimes in the Iberian World (1500–1850): The Normative Role of Kinship and Community, edited by Manuel Bastías Saavedra—was also presented and discussed by Margarita Menegus Bornemann (IISUE-UNAM) and Marta Martín Gabaldón (UNAM).
Both events sparked lively discussion and attracted wide participation. They offered an important platform to reflect on the IberLAND project and its findings, encouraging fresh perspectives and interdisciplinary dialogue on the study of land in the Iberian world, while connecting diverse historiographies and scholarly approaches.
