Civility, Civics and Citizenship in Spanish America

As questions regarding the meanings and understandings of citizenship in specific contexts have gained political and academic currency, it is vital to understand citizenship in its widest sense. In Spanish America, the inclusion/exclusion divide of citizenship categories has defined much of the region's history since independence in the early nineteenth century. For example, constitutions often limited citizenship to married, wealthy men of a certain age, while training of future citizens was undertaken by expanding (and sometimes competing) education systems. Meanwhile etiquette guides helped offered the socially insecure firm rules about how to demonstrate their civility and capacity for full civic participation. Studies in this area would look at contemporary and historical issues such as civics education; competing visions of the nation and citizenship in civil conflict; socialisation of citizens through the media and the ways in which citizenship and conceptions of civility have created and reinforced categories of gendered, racialised and ethnic difference.