This open access book analyses Iberian expansion by using knowledge accumulated in recent years to test some of the most important theories regarding Europe's economic development.

This book offers a new perspective on the concept of modernity. Since its invention as a contrast to Antiquity or the Middle Ages, modernity has been tied to ideas of superiority, progress, and efficiency. As a counterpart to the Marxist “history of class struggle”, “modernization theories” have transformed modernity into an almost teleological concept of historical development. These strong connotations obstruct a clear look at other forms of modernity.The contributions of the volume will show in a comparative perspective how modernity can also be understood and analyzed as multiple...