A “REPUBLIC OF BACHELORS”: BETWEEN MANDARINS OF LAW AND OWNERS OF POWER

Abstract

This article examines the constitution of Sergipe’s legal elite from the end of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century, with the aim of analyzing their recruitment patterns and their modalities of professional advancement. In methodological terms, we start from those who occupied leading positions in the legal sphere in the state and analyze the trajectories of these professionals considering, at first, the sociographic profile and the relationship with the economic, social and political space. And, in a second moment, the political history of the family group to which they belonged. The main results of this research demonstrate that family relationships provided the fundamental elements for recruitment and advancement in the judiciary. In addition, the title of bachelor of law represented a decisive strategy in the ways of restructuring political and economic elites. The elites not only preserved their dominant position, valuing their social capital, but also controlled access to positions leaders within the justice system.

Keywords
Politics; judiciary; Family; elites; trajectories