Modern Practice of Colonial Origins: ordinary people’s use of the Spanish legal system and its legacy

• In Event: Modernity and Subalternity in the Andes

Abstract

Since the sixteenth century, the Spaniards imported various of their institutions and practices, while adopting native ones, to rule the New World. One of these tools of rule was the legal system which colonial subjects learned to navigate. Far from being passive users of this new set of rules, forms, authorities, and forums, colonial subjects mastered this system. They did not only adopt, but also adapted the Spanish legal system to solve their particular needs. This legal system became a common framework for colonial subjects, where even those categorized as subalterns, such as Indians, women, and slaves, could actively participate.
Despite its colonial origins, the present use of the legal system represents a modern practice. This paper examines ordinary people’s widespread use of the Spanish legal system in colonial Lima, and the permanence of this practice in Lima’s countryside in current times. Comparing diverse cases where ordinary people, including those labeled as subalterns, employed the legal system for their personal needs, this paper show how the impact of coloniality in Peru’s modern reality.

Author

• Judith M Mansilla, Florida International University