Mexico City as a prison: The origins of Santiago Tlatelolco (1841–1857)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to study the origins of the Santiago Tlatelolco prison in Mexico City. Based on archival materials and hemerography, it is intended to provide a comprehensive view of this institution, studying both the projects and the events that shaped it, as well as the discourses, ideas and representations of rulers, judges and lawyers, regarding the work of inmates, between 1841 and 1857. The hypothesis of the present work sustains that the law of reform of the Mexican prisons of January 27, 1840, helped to its configuration as places of punishment, being Santiago Tlatelolco a pioneering institution in the field of penal reform.