The ideal citizen of antioquia through the press in Medellín, 1845 – 1850

Abstract

The article analyzes the construction of the “ideal citizen” in Medellín between 1845 and 1850, based on local press and other contemporary documents. It shows how social, political and religious elites, promoted a male model of citizenship grounded in labor, Catholic morality, property and obedience. The press, with its pedagogical and doctrinal function, shaped both the exclusion of the “vicious” and the exaltation of the virtuous, productive and devout subject. The study concludes that this ideal responded to an exclusionary political project functional to capitalism and regional power, which still influences certain social processes in Medellín today.