Rationalizing patriarchy: Gender, domestic violence, and law in Mexico

National legislation criminalizing domestic violence and cases from the rural town of Namiquipa, Chihuahua, are examined in relation to broad processes of state formation and local practices in order to demonstrate the ways in which law was a site for the negotiation of identities and relations of power in nineteenth century Mexico. The paper argues that the criminalization of domestic violence in Mexico was part of a liberal process of nation‐state formation that attempted to revolutionize the legitimate bases of authority and redefine hegemonic forms of gender in both public and domestic spheres. However, legal changes rationalized rather than undermined patriarchy.

Key words:

• Mexico
• gender
• domestic violence
• law
• state formation