The marks of progress

some urban legal codes of Fortaleza city from the XIX and XX centuries

Abstract

This work tackles some aspects of the urban reality of the City of Fortaleza,Ceará, during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, based in some of the sociological concepts created by Pierre Bourdieu, such as “habitus” and “civilizing process”, further developed by Norbert Elias. We analyze social behaviors predicted by “Posture Codes” and urban standards enforced in the City, linking those behaviors to the discipline and adequacy to “patterns of civility” needs. The analyses that follows illustrates the urban context of Fortaleza in different periods, including the period of French influence of the urban pattern in the nineteenth century and the heydays of the textile industry, in the early twentieth century. We demonstrate how certain trends and rules of living are suited to a “proper way of living” in the City.