Publication: Relaciones ciudadanas, gubernamentalidad liberal y utopía cooperativista. El proyecto de Elías Zerolo en Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1868-1870)
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2019
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Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Abstract
La organización de las relaciones sociales en las ciudades fue fuente de inspiración
de proyectos de transformación social en el siglo XIX. Dentro del debate sobre la
“cuestión social”, diversos pensadores denunciaron que el régimen liberal implantado en
Europa y España no había traído la ansiada sociedad de la libertad que prometían sus
partidarios. A su juicio, la pobreza de los trabajadores ponía de manifiesto la incapacidad
de una parte esencial de la población para ejercer sus libertades. Estos pensadores
señalaron la imposibilidad de aplicar el principio de la “libertad autorregulada”, eje
esencial de la gubernamentalidad liberal, bajo dicho régimen. La miseria obrera era
evidente en las ciudades, donde los trabajadores se concentraban cada vez en mayor
número. Esto era especialmente sangrante dado que las ciudades constituían los espacios
privilegiados de la aplicación de las técnicas liberales de gobierno. Por ello, las soluciones
que se formularon se concibieron como una manera de asegurar y potenciar el ejercicio
de la libertad individual.
La presente ponencia aborda desde esta perspectiva uno de estos proyectos de
“liberación” de las relaciones sociales urbanas: el relativamente desconocido plan del
republicano Elías Zerolo en Santa Cruz de Tenerife en 1870. Zerolo se inspiró en el
asociacionismo para proponer un orden social basado en la solidaridad entre ciudadanos.
La imagen utópica que se desprendió de su proyecto fue la de una ciudadanía
autorregulada por las libertades individuales gracias a las cooperativas. Dicha imagen
estaba basada en la misma gubernamentalidad liberal que fundaba el propio régimen
liberal existente, de modo que no supuso una ruptura radical con éste sino una opción
alternativa enmarcada en la misma lógica de gobierno.
The organization of urban social relationships was a source of inspiration to projects of social reform during the 19th century. In the social question debate, several thinkers rejected the liberal regime implemented in Spain and other Western countries for not having brought about the promised society of freedom. In their view, the very existence of poverty among workers prevented many citizens from exercising their freedoms and rights. These thinkers inferred that existing political regimes were incompatible with the main principles of self-regulated freedom, which in turn was pivotal to liberal governmentality. Furthermore, workers’ misery was more obvious in cities. This was especially flagrant since cities were the privileged spaces for the implementation of liberal techniques of government. This explains why solutions were designed as ways of restoring individual freedom in urban communities. This paper tackles one of these projects of urban social reform: the relatively unknown plan of republican Elías Zerolo, who attempted to change urban relationships in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1870. Zerolo was inspired by cooperativism when imagining a new social framework based on solidarity. The utopian urban projection derived from that project was that of a city directly controlled by free citizens via their cooperatives, which allowed them to implement real free social relationships. Yet, this image came from the same principles that shaped the same liberal governamentality in which existing liberal regimes were grounded. Thus, this project did not represent a radical breakdown with the political regime, but an alternative organization inspired by the same principles, assumptions, and logics.
The organization of urban social relationships was a source of inspiration to projects of social reform during the 19th century. In the social question debate, several thinkers rejected the liberal regime implemented in Spain and other Western countries for not having brought about the promised society of freedom. In their view, the very existence of poverty among workers prevented many citizens from exercising their freedoms and rights. These thinkers inferred that existing political regimes were incompatible with the main principles of self-regulated freedom, which in turn was pivotal to liberal governmentality. Furthermore, workers’ misery was more obvious in cities. This was especially flagrant since cities were the privileged spaces for the implementation of liberal techniques of government. This explains why solutions were designed as ways of restoring individual freedom in urban communities. This paper tackles one of these projects of urban social reform: the relatively unknown plan of republican Elías Zerolo, who attempted to change urban relationships in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1870. Zerolo was inspired by cooperativism when imagining a new social framework based on solidarity. The utopian urban projection derived from that project was that of a city directly controlled by free citizens via their cooperatives, which allowed them to implement real free social relationships. Yet, this image came from the same principles that shaped the same liberal governamentality in which existing liberal regimes were grounded. Thus, this project did not represent a radical breakdown with the political regime, but an alternative organization inspired by the same principles, assumptions, and logics.
Description
Comunicación presentada en el Congreso Internacional Interdisciplinar "La ciudad: imágenes e imaginarios" celebrado en la Facultad de Humanidades, Comunicación y Documentación, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid del 12 al 15 marzo de 2018.
Keywords
Cuestión social, Gubernamentalidad, Libertad, Asociación, Solidaridad, Social question, Governmentality, Freedom, Association, Solidarity
Bibliographic citation
Congreso Internacional Interdisciplinar: La ciudad: imágenes e imaginarios. (2018, Getafe). Ana Mejón, Farshad Zahedi, David Conte Imbert (eds.). Getafe: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2019, pp.343-351