Dependencia, género y raza: de las perspectivas contemporáneas a los debates y políticas de la Revolución Francesa

Dependency: important recent debates—particularly those developed by feminist authors—interpret dependency as a characteristic trait of all human beings and highlight its importance in the creation of social bonds. However, not all of us are equally dependent, as some studies emphasize, pointing to the importance of context, social relationships, support networks, and the resources and recognition available to different individuals. In this sense, some of these perspectives that seek to make dependency visible also make the individuals who, throughout history, were constructed—economically, socially, culturally, politically, and legally—as dependent, and who, in a certain way, were rendered invisible or obscured behind or beneath a person constructed as independent—typically a white, adult, male head of household. This includes not only children, the sick, and the elderly, but also women, servants, domestic workers, slaves, and individuals considered to belong to “inferior races,” though each with their own specificities. The construction of certain men as independent individuals was largely ideological—a fiction. In reality, it was only the care and labor of dependent individuals that allowed those men to appear “independent.” In fact, the “independent” men were dependent on the dependent ones. Religion, customs, philosophy, and law reinforced this ideological construction by providing arguments to support the idea that certain people—because of their age, gender, race, social role, or health status—were fragile and therefore needed someone to guide, instruct, and protect them. Meanwhile, others—predominantly adult white men—were portrayed as strong, independent, capable, and responsible for guiding, protecting, and correcting the “dependent” individuals. What, then, happened to those who, during the Ancien Régime, were socially and culturally “constructed” as dependent due to their gender, race, or social condition, when the French Revolution asserted the principle that “les hommes” “are born and remain free and equal in rights, and that social distinctions can only be based on considerations of the common good”? These principles seemed to leave no room for inequality and social hierarchies. What was the actual impact of the French Revolution on the concept of dependency? This chapter seeks to answer that question by analyzing the debates that took place during the revolutionary period and the policies that were implemented, highlighting the tension between egalitarian principles and deeply rooted social inequalities. Furthermore, it will illustrate the solutions that were found. In particular, it will examine the changing importance of social status, race, and gender in the construction of dependency, contributing to understand how, over time, dependency has been variously associated with individuals possessing different characteristics