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Under Jesuit management, the Guaraní missions of the Río de la Plata region of South America were the largest and most prosperous of all the Catholic missions established to convert, acculturate, and incorporate indigenous peoples and their lands into the Spanish and Portuguese empires. The book is a socioeconomic history of the Guaraní and their missions. It makes three central contributions. First, rather than studying cultural change like previous scholarship, it focuses on economic and social change to provide an understanding of the material changes experienced by the Guaraní in their day-to-day lives. Second, it shows that while the Guaraní missions were prosperous under Jesuit management, they were not run efficiently. Third, it is the first work to provide a detailed and comprehensive explanation about why the missions declined. The book contends that the missions declined not because of the corruption and incapacity of the Jesuits’ replacements but rather due to Crown reforms meant to push the Río de la Plata region and the Guaraní into the global economy.

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Like coffee or tea, yerba mate is one of the world's most beloved caffeinated beverages. Once dubbed a "devil's drink" by Spanish missionaries in South America only to be later hailed by capitalists and politicians as "green gold," it has a long and storied history. And no country consumes and celebrates yerba mate quite like Argentina. Yerba Mate is the first book to explore the extraordinary history of this iconic beverage in Argentina from the precolonial period to the present. From yerba mate's Indigenous origins to its ubiquity during the colonial era, from its association with rural people and the poor in the late nineteenth century to its resurgence in the last years of the twentieth century, Julia Sarreal meticulously documents yerba mate's consumption, production, and cultural importance over time. Yerba Mate is the definitive history of this popular beverage and social practice, and it tells a fascinating story about race, culture, and how a drink helped forge the national identity of one of the world's most dynamic countries.

Mate (Tea) industry.