Francisco Eissa Barroso

Francisco Eissa Barroso

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-2853

  • Oxford Road, Samuel Alexander Building, Room N3.10

    M13 9PL Manchester

    United Kingdom

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Personal profile

Biography

Dr Francisco A. Eissa-Barroso (Mexico City, 1980) is a political and social historian of early modern Spanish America and the broader Spanish world. While reading for his first degree, in Political Science and International Relations at CIDE in Mexico City, he developed an interest in the history of Latin America’s early nineteenth-century political though and constitutionalism. This eventually led him to shift his focus towards the political practices and traditions of the early modern Spanish world, initially as a prerequisite for understanding the lenses through which Independence-era Latin Americans read north-Atlantic political theory, and later on its own merit. His doctoral work at the University of Warwick (PhD in History 2011) explored the changing political culture of the early eighteenth century at the heart of the Spanish Monarchy through an analysis of the reform of the system of viceregal rule across the Spanish world. His first monograph, The Spanish Monarchy and the Creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717-1739) (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2016; Open Access), explores the Trans-Atlantic dynamics behind the most salient reform introduced by the early bourbons in Spanish America. The book stresses the importance of thinking reform in the context of the changing balance of power in Spain, the geopolitical situation at the time and the hierarchical and asymmetrical nature of interactions across the empire.

Frank was the PI in the AHRC-funded project, Trajectories of Reform in the Spanish World: Careering, Networks and Empire under the Early Bourbons (1700-1759). The project explored how the experience of staggered mobility across different parts of the Spanish world contributed to empire building, the development of the new ‘professional’ administrative personnel of the Spanish monarchy under the early Bourbons, and the evolution of  attitudes and ideas about the structure of the empire.

With Enrique Florescano, Frank is co-author of Atlas Histórico de México (Mexico City: Aguilar, 2008); he co-edited Early Bourbon Spanish America: Politics and Society in a Forgotten Era (1700-1759) (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013) with Ainara Vázquez Varela, and Élites, representación y redes atlánticas en la Hispanoamérica moderna (Zamora: El Colegio de Michoacán, 2017), also with Ainara Vázquez and Silvia Espelt-Bombín. With Pablo Hernández Sau, he co-edited '"Ongoing" Mobilities in the Early-Modern Spanish World', a special issue of the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies (2022), and 'La movilidad escalonada en el mundo hispano de la edad moderna', a sepecial section of Magallánica. Revista de Historia Moderna (2023).

Before joining SPLAS at Manchester in 2013, Frank taught Latin American history at the University of Warwick, in the UK, and at CIDE and El Colegio de Michoacán, in Mexico.

Since 2022 Frank is co-editor of the Bulletin of Latin American Research, the journal of the Society for Latin American Studies. 

Qualifications

  • Senior Lecturer in Latin American History, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 2020-
  • Lecturer in Latin American History, SPLAS, University of Manchester, UK, 2013-2020
  • CONACyT Postdoctoral Fellow, Centro de Estudios Históricos, El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico, 2012-13
  • Teaching Fellow in Latin American History, Department of History and School of Comparative American Studies, University of Warwick, 2011-12
  • IAS-Santander Early Career Fellow, Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, 2010-11
  • PhD in History, University of Warwick, 2011
  • MA (by Research) in History, University of Warwick, 2007
  • Licenciatura [BA] in Political Science and International Relations, CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas), 2004

Research interests

Dr. Eissa-Barroso's research and teaching interests revolve around the political, social and military history of Spanish America and the wider Hispanic World, especially during the early modern period. His work has three main areas of focus.

1) The study of policy making, court politics and political culture, local governance, social, familial and patron-client networks, and the various roles played by military officers in administering, defending and binding together the Spanish Empire. Frank's work in this area has focused primarily on the first half of the eighteenth century during the reigns of Philip V, first Bourbon king of Spain (1701-1724, 1724-1746).

2) Mobility and the study of lives and careers which spanned the Hispanic World. In particular, Frank is interested in the phenomenon of 'staggered mobility' and how non-linear, multi-directional trajectories were key to the construction and articulation of the Early-Modern Hispanic Atlantic.

3) Disability History and Critical (Dis)ability Studies with a particular focus on the history of physical impairment and disability in the Early-Modern Hispanic World.

Postgraduate Students’ Supervision

Frank particularly welcomes enquiries from students interested in working on the social, political, and/or military history, broadly defined, of Early-Modern Latin America, Spain and the Hispanic World.

Topics recently supervised:

  • 2024- , Emma Greenaway, 'Against all odds: Property trends of mestiza women in the Yucatán and Mexico City, 1700-1770' (PhD in Latin American Studies)
  • 2022-23, Emma Goodbody, 'Testaments to Change: Indigenous, Hispanic, and Mestiza women and the proces of interculturation in 17th century Lima' (MA in Modern Languages and Cultures)
  • 2021-22, George Shepherd, 'Indigenous Economics in Colonial Latin America: An Analysis of the Legacy of Precolonial Economic Structures in Shaping the Colonial Order in the Andes and Mesoamerica' (MA in Modern Languages and Cultures)
  • 2015-17, Alexander Thomas, ‘The Invention of Anahuac: Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Hernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc, and the Construction of a New Identity for New Spain’ (MA in Languages and Cultures, research route, part-time)
  • 2016-17, Natasha Bailey, ‘Iconography and the Construction of Pre-Hispanic Gender in Colonial Nahua Pictorials’ (MA in History)
  • 2013-15, James Shaw, ‘“The Great Desideratum in Government”: James Madison, Benjamin Constant, and the Liberal-Republican Framework for Political Neutrality’ (PhD in History; co-supervised with Stuart Jones)

Public Interest and Research Dissemination

Guest appearence in You're dead to Me: Simón Bolívar. BBC Radio 4, 2024.

Eissa-Barroso, Francisco A. 'Las fuerzas defensivas virreinales'. Desperta Ferro. Historia Moderna, 48 (Oct. 2020): 26-30. 

Eissa-Barroso, Frank. 'The "Spanish" Conquest of Mexico: Five Hundred Years On". Modern History Review, 22:3 (Feb. 2020): 2-6.

‘Expert’ appearance in Mystery Files: Zorro. Dir. Marc Tiley. Parthenon Entertainment, 2011. [Broadcasted internationally on the National Geographic Channel]

Florescano, Enrique and Francisco Eissa. Atlas histórico de México [Historical Atlas of Mexico]. Mexico City: Aguilar, 2008.

Teaching

Units taught (2022-23)

(On Research Leave for 2023-24)

  • SPLA10410 Cultures of the Hispanic world - Lecturer (sem1)
  • SPLA10420 Themes in Spanish and Latin American Studies - Lecturer
  • SPLA20361 History of Latin America - Unit director
  • SPLA31152 History of the Spanish Atlantic World: Empire, Trade, War - Unit director
  • LALC61040 Dissertation (Modern Lanaguages and Cultures) - Supervisor
  • HIST64192 Club Med? How Mediterranean Empires Went Global - Lecturer

Teaching accolades

  • "He has a unique ability to be very clear with what he is trying to say without overcomplicating things and gives a massive amount of relevant detail. By far one the best professor I've ever had." (Second-year student, 2013-14)
  • "I felt like I was actually learning worthwhile, interesting topics - one of the more interesting modules I have done definitely." (Second-year student, 2013-14)
  • "I valued the seminars in this unit very much as they allowed the whole class to discuss the topic we had learned in the lecture. The material given before the seminars proved to be difficult at times but that allowed me to research deeper into the topic itself." (Second-year student, 2013-14)
  • "Frank is a brilliant teacher. His passion for the subject is strongly seen in his teaching. He is very knowledgeable in his subject which provides additional support and opportunity for discussion. He is very approachable in his availability and his willingness to support his students. He is definitely an asset to the SPLA department and I would recommend his courses to others." (Final-year student, 2013-14)
  • "His enthusiasm and obvious interest in what is already a very intellectually stimulating subject meant that classes and topics were extremely engaging. His in-depth knowledge of the issues dealt with in this course meant we were able to explore areas which were of most interest to us. I thought his lectures were outstanding, probably the most interesting series that I have experienced in my time at university." (Final-year student, 2013-14)

Teaching awards

2013-14

  • Nominated for a 'Manchester Teaching Award' in the 'Best Lecturer' category.

2015-16

  • Nominated for a 'Manchester Teaching Award' in the 'Best Lecturer' category.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

External positions

Co-editor of the Bulletin of Latin American Research, Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)

Sept 2022 → …

Areas of expertise

  • F1201 Latin America (General)
  • DP Spain
  • JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
  • JL Political institutions (America except United States)
  • E11 America (General)
  • HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform

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