“Un honorífico empleo”. Apuntes para el estudio de los defensores de pobres en el Río de la Plata (siglos XVIII-XIX)

Abstract

The present article tries to delineate some methodological and historiographical observations in order to contribute to the approach of an administration agent of colonial justice that has been poorly explored by historiography. We refer to the Defensores de pobres (Defenders of poor) of the city councils, who served in several regions of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata between the end of the eighteenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century. Our article will consist of four parts. In the first of them we will situate the theme in context, giving account of the importance that may have had that particular post at the time. Secondly, we will show an historiographic view, reporting the contributions made by several studies, but at the same time describing the reasons which explain the poor attention that historians devoted to the study of the Defensores de pobres . Thirdly, we will give an overview of the regional variations that characterized the post in question, based on the written records of several city councils. Finally, we will outline the main methodological challenges face by those who intend to approach this research topic, mainly based on the questions and obstacles coming from the study of a case.