Heiresses in the civil code: discourses and representations regarding legal capacity of women

Abstract

The concern about the place of women in the heritage dynamic has been incidentally tackled by studies that analyze the legal redefinitions about family, property, and heritage during the XIX century, foregrounding changes on family legislation since 1830. On the other hand, Dora Barrancos pointed that codification has worsened women’s legal status and condition. Taking into account these contributions, we propose to explore the legal redefinitions of women’s place in heritage dynamic in the transit from the XVIII to the XIX century. As a starting point of that investigation we will focus on this article about the Argentinean Civil Code from 1869 as well as the legal conceptions and the circumstances than explain its dispositions, trying to historicize it outlining changes and continuities. We will also inquire into the representations that those discourses implied.