Call for papers for thematic dossier

Proposers:

Cláudia Chaves – UFOP

Daiane de Souza Alves – UERJ

 

Theme: Fiscal policy as a “frontier territory” – 18th and 19th centuries

 

The purpose of this dossier is to bring together research dedicated to analyzing the role of taxation in the process of territorial organization. As is well known, fiscal policy, as a “frontier territory,” provides a privileged angle for understanding the formation of the tax collection structures of modern empires and nation states and the conflicts inherent in their constitution. Less tied to the bureaucratic and even redistributive principle of the second half of the 19th century, the organization of tax systems between the 18th and 19th centuries served as a means of maintenance and/or expansion through wars and military mobilization in defense of sovereignties. The resources derived from taxes, duties, and property rights were a fundamental means of enabling the construction and maintenance of states and their territories. From the structural and patrimonial model, when the state exploits its domains and concession rights, to its transformation into a fiscal state, when the tax base comes from the capacity to impose taxes on its taxpayers, such mechanisms do not merely reveal the historical and far from linear passage of processes that unfolded in the transition to capitalism and liberal policies. Rather, they reflect the conflicts and negotiations that involved the constitution of the exercise of political legitimacy and its action on social organisms. Studies on the fiscal system in Brazil and the Americas show us both the coexistence of these forms of revenue collection and the weight of political struggles around the organization of territories, whether colonial or national. The so-called fiscal state, as seen from its crisis in the early 20th century by Joseph Schumpeter, demonstrated the limits of capacity and management in the imbalance between sources of revenue and the continuous increase in public spending. The key to understanding this almost permanent dilemma in the history of taxation has been sought in the interpretive keys of politics and the systems of legitimization of tax mechanisms. Not only legitimate, but necessary as guarantors of social order, sovereignty, representation, and also defenses against external threats. Thus, studies on the fiscal system and territorial policies cover political and social conflicts, the constitution of bureaucratic institutions, the control of territories, the legitimization of taxes, and the confrontation of political and economic crises. 

 

Proposed submission of articles to the journal: May 1, 2026.

Submission of articles to the journal's system: https://periodicos.unifesp.br/index.php/alm/about/submissions