The First Society Of Anthropology At Argentina (1888)

Abstract

The history of the nation can also be read through its institutions. Established the Nation-State from 1880, the construction of specific spaces, such as museums, were part of the panorama of the enlightened ruling classes of the time, also very frequent in Europe. The present work of Dr. Schávelzon gives an account of the founding of one of those institutions in 1888 The Society for Legal Anthropology arose under an anthropological, historical and social thought typical of the elites, which included positivism, the ideas of Lombroso and social Darwinism, frequent in conferences and Society publications. As an institution, the Society represented a way of thinking about the country and its territory, the law and its application, all within a scientific framework. The crisis of 1890 and the beginning of the end of the government of the national elites could put an end to this organized attempt to generate an anthropology that was articulated with legality, as new social actors appeared with new perspectives on the country and the law.