ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Co-Producing Science: Local Knowledge and the Amazonian Expeditions of Bates & Wallace

• In Event: Histories of Biogeography Part 1

English Abstract

This communication reconsiders the Amazonian expeditions of Henry Walter Bates (1848–1859) and Alfred Russel Wallace (1848–1852) emphasizing the fundamental but often overlooked contributions of local populations. While celebrated for their collections and for shaping evolutionary and biogeographic theory, both naturalists depended on networks of Indigenous guides, enslaved and freed laborers, riverine populations, and other local agents who enabled travel, facilitated collecting specimens, and transmitted knowledge about nature. Drawing on travel narratives, field notes, and correspondence, this study reveals how local expertise and knowledge was indispensable to the production of biogeographic insights later credited solely to European science. By reconstructing these collaborative networks, we rethink nineteenth-century scientific knowledge as a dialogical co-production between Europeans and natives.

The IHC is funded by national funds through the FCT — Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the projects UIDB/04209/2020, LAP/0132/2020 (DOI: doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0132/2020), and UID/04209/2025 (DOI: doi.org/10.54499/UID/04209/2025).

Author

• Anderson Antunes, University of Évora