Death Penalty in Restoration Spain: A History of Social Change

Abstract

The death penalty is an expression of power, full of great dramatic force, where different representations and political meanings, cultural values and social attitudes tend to converge. This article analyzes the social function and the political use of the death penalty, its forms, meanings and transformations during Restoration Spain, from public execution to its moderation, privacy and the increase in mercy. The main objective is to clarify the relationship of this complex phenomenon with different construction processes and rationalization of the structures of political power, the emergence of new sensibilities that stress the inhumane and uncivilized character of executions and the development of political actors and forms of social mobilization based on demand for rights. Thus, the changes in the forms of punishment are essential to understand the changes in the society of that time and the returns it was exposed to.