Familia, poder y representación en Andalucíalos Cepeda entre el Antiguo y el Nuevo Régimen (1700-1850)

Abstract

This thesis aims at determining how social relationships developed throughout the transition to the modern system, reducing the scale of observation to a concrete communitX within a given period: the Cepeda family, since the beginning of the 18 h century up to the m id-19th century. After introducing the subjects of this study, it analyzes their relationships: first the bonds born from blood and affinity, which delimit the boundaries of kinship; afterwards the links defining unequal relationships through dependence or a patronage system; and lastly the strategies used to perpetuate their position of power. Two are the main hypothesis pursued in this work: the first one, that the family relationships and their reproductiva interests conditioned all the social interactions so much that they were the real womb for the whole social system. The second one, that the strategies used by powerful families in order to guarantee their social perpetuation were so effective that not even the revolutions of the 19th century were able to unbalance the traditional society, characterized by inequality and hierarchy, and ruled by extensive kin networks.