Abstract

Objective/Context: This work addresses the articulation between national States and imperial capitals between 1870 and 1930 to explain state bordering processes, economic modernization, and social uprooting that characterize this cycle. The five contributions included in the dossier are presented at the end, which contribute to a historiographic rethinking of the relationship between States, capitals, and peoples. Methodology: The article examines a diverse bibliographic body on the relationship between national histories, colonization, and borders, with an emphasis on South America in the global colonial context. Originality: The text discusses the stability of national-liberal historiography in the light of border situations and proposes to advance the analytical integration of Latin American colonial realities in their common diversity. Conclusions: National histories contribute to legitimizing a state-centrism that denies the heterogeneous colonial experience and radical inequalities that constitute it. The article proposes to deepen the plurinational, extranational historization of the enormous continuity of border situations.