This thesis examines gender differences in recorded criminality in early modern Frankfurt and the way that these differences were shaped by the local context. For a long time it was considered that... Show moreThis thesis examines gender differences in recorded criminality in early modern Frankfurt and the way that these differences were shaped by the local context. For a long time it was considered that the criminality of women is a marginal phenomenon and that this was invariable over time and place. Historical studies, however, have demonstrated that women played a much more prominent role in recorded crime in the early modern period, and could even make up half of all defendants in specific locations. At the same time, there were also large regional differences. Until now, historians focused only little on the differences, and instead looked for general explanations for female deviance in this period. This thesis studies the structural impact of the local context on women’s offending and their prosecution. It shows that the pattern in Frankfurt was both similar and different to that of other European cities. Strong informal control within the household, which is normally associated with close-knit communities in the countryside, played an important role in the urban community of Frankfurt and influenced prosecution patterns. Owing to the reliance on household control, cities like Frankfurt am Main knew a distinct type of urban female offender. Show less
The legalistic tradition of Chile has become a cliché in discourses on the identity of the country and the character of its people. Chileans are proud of their traditional respect for the law,... Show moreThe legalistic tradition of Chile has become a cliché in discourses on the identity of the country and the character of its people. Chileans are proud of their traditional respect for the law, their institutions and the authority. Chileans distinguish themselves from their neighbouring countries in terms of the construction of a homogeneous and stable institutional order. On the other hand, the legalist tradition is perceived in Chile as an excessive punitive control that acts as an exclusionary internal discipline. Traditionally, this discipline has been applied to certain social segments that are seen as potentially disruptive of the order. Those social segments are groups of subjects associated to marginality, insecurity, lawlessness and conflict, and who would conform in the same logic, another category of the other as an internal enemy. The outsider as the other is a category that rises in relation to the sp ace of the nation. These discursive traditions were shared by the elite in the 19th century and achieved a clear consolidation and national legitimacy during the 20th century, crystallizing in a citizenship linked to development and modernity. The internal enemy constitutes a biopolitical perspective, conceived from the keys of the social and political coexistence. Show less
