The Progress Law: Nation and Gender in America. The construction of identity in the work of Emilia Serrano, Baroness of Wilson. From women's press to politics ; La ley del progreso: nación y género en América. La construcción de la identidad en la obra de Emilia Serrano, baronesa de Wilson. De la pr...
This paper investigates the figure of Baroness Wilson, Emilia Serrano –a Spanish journalist in America– and her American work, delving especially into the path that allowed the writing of The Law of Progress (1880). It is a treaty on the need for public education in Latin America, with a proposal to articulate the educational system from childhood. The goal is to train citizens to modernize and industrialize the nascent American nation states, emulating Europe and, especially, the United States. The study evidences Serrano's educational interests and especially his defense of female education– which he considers as a path to professionalization and independence– also of the lower classes. Education is thus a way for economic and civic/social development, of the states. It is also a democratizing, liberal force. However, together with its condition as a pedagogical and feminist treatise, due to the feminine condition of its author, it is a challenge to the limits of 19th-century domesticity and an example of the gradual conquest of public space and politics by women. This triangle between education, politics and gender, also considering social class dimension, is the object of study of this research, which analyses the importance of the Spanish press in America, tracing its concerns and particularities. ; El presente trabajo investiga la figura de Emilia Serrano, baronesa de Wilson –periodista española en América– y su obra americana, ahondando especialmente en el camino que permitió la redacción de La ley del progreso (1880), un tratado sobre la necesidad de una educación pública en América Latina, con una propuesta para articular el sistema educativo desde la etapa infantil. El objetivo es crear ciudadanos para modernizar e industrializar los nacientes estados-nación americanos, emulando a Europa y sobre todo a Estados Unidos. El estudio evidencia el interés educativo de Serrano y, especialmente, su defensa de la educación femenina, que considera un camino para la profesionalización y la independencia de las ...