Order in diversity: Practices of comparing in intercultural jurisdiction (17th–19th century)

Focusing on jurisdiction in early modern contact zones, this project is studying how practices of comparing functioned in cultural contact situations, how they changed, and how they were appropriated by different actors. The field of jurisdiction can provide particularly strong insights into the interdependencies between practices of comparing and social dynamics in, for example the formation of new groups through religious conversion and mixed marriages. Two case studies will be carried out: one in Pondichéry in India and the other about the swedish expansion to Lapland and the Atlantic.