The possible patriarchalism: power relations in a former slave region in Brazil where family labor was the rule

Abstract

In this article I have attempted to show indications of a peculiar configuration of patriarchalism in certain food-producing regions. In these regions family labor was the rule and, from the demographic point of view, slavery was inexpressive. The locus of the study is “Freguesia de São José dos Pinhais” (State of Paraná) in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the dynamic of the social relations there is analyzed through data on household composition, production and landholding.