Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Introduction -- Europeans and Religious Orders in America -- The Society of Jesus: Missionaries and Missions -- The Missions and Public Opinion in the Crisis of European Conscience: Utopias and Republicanism -- Montesquieu, Republican Utopia and Civilisation -- The Age of the Encyclopédie and Rousseau: New Paths and New Needs to Rethink Utopianism -- 1750s–1770s: Political and Social Conflicts -- Utopias and Human Sciences: Diderot’s Analysis of Society -- Beyond the Lumières -- Back Matter -- Bibliography -- Index.

Available to subscribing member institutions only.

The Jesuit Missions of Paraguay and a Cultural History of Utopia (1568–1789) explores the religious foundations of the Jesuit missions in Paraguay, and the discussion of the missionary experience in the public opinion of early modern Europe, from Montaigne to Diderot. This book presents a wealth of documentation to highlight three key aspects of this debate: the relationship between civilisation and religion, between religion and political imagination, and between utopia and history. Girolamo Imbruglia's analysis of the Jesuits' own narrative reveals that the idea and the practice of mission have been one of the essential features of the European identity, and of the shaping modern political thought.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.