The female cloister as a labor microcosm in Latin America: The black and afromestizo slaves of the Ancient Monastery of Santa Clara. Santiago, Chile (18th century)

Los esclavos negros y afromestizos del Monasterio Antiguo de Santa Clara. Santiago, Chile (siglo XVIII)

Abstract

This article deals with the presence of black and afro-mestizo slaves in the Old Monastery of Santa Clara during the 18th century. Specifically, it studies the position of these subjects in the social hierarchy of the cloister, their forms of income, types of work performed, manumissions and cultural representations. Likewise we analyze the difficulties that their daily life implied in relation to the rules of this religious order, contrasting them to the benefits that their incorporation to the convent meant: for the nuns and for themselves.