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To Overcome Oneself: The Jesuit Ethic and Spirit of Global Expansion, 1520-1767 . By J. Michelle Molina . Berkeley : University of California Press , 2013. xiv + 278 pp. $49.95 cloth.
Book Reviews and Notes
This book is at once both fascinating and, in some ways at least, frustrating. J. Michelle Molina sets out to transform our conceptions of the origins of the modern self, both temporally and geographically. She accomplishes a great deal in this challenging and provocative study, but, at the same time, she perhaps tries to do too much in this roughly 200-page monograph. In essence, she argues that the modern self emerged both sooner and in different areas than the traditional narrative would have us believe. In particular, Molina shifts the focus of the origins of this "modern" development from northern to southern Europe, and from protestant to Catholic regions. In addition, while changes in southern, Catholic culture were important, so too were those in overseas mission areas, especially New Spain. Two of the proposed driving motors of these transformations are clear from the subtitle of the book: The Jesuit Ethic and Spirit of Global Expansion, 1520-1767. Thus, Molina's research and insights expand upon several recent historiographical trends in early modern studies, particularly those relating to the role of the nascent Society of Jesus as a significant spiritual and cultural force, especially in the...