Floating Provinces: Exile and the Formation of Independent Republics

Abstract

The conclusion outlines some trajectories of return before summarizing the main arguments. Exile was a pillar of political order in South America, playing a role in border formation, as well as in the alternation in power, at the heart of democratic legitimacy. Opposition took root, voiced discontent and attempted to produce change from abroad. Exile and return were part of broader transnational flows that emerged from colonial commercial and migratory routes with the creation of international borders. An important consequence was to create a political culture of exile, both in the sense of political practice—on a continuum running from state banishment to émigré flight—as well as that of cultural representations of the Romantic émigré. The practice of exile connected politics in emerging nation-states, mediating in both civil wars and international relations, and was at the heart of the formation of independent republics in South America.