Concepcion arenal and the social question: reflections on the assistence to the needy in nineteenth-century Spain

Abstract

In nineteenth-century Spain, Concepción Arenal established herself as an important thinker in the critical social field. Influenced by social Catholicism, her work sought to rethink the place of social assistance. Among her multifaceted writings, this paper intends to focus on beneficence, philanthropy, and charity, since they bring together the key elements that would validate her ideas and proposals on public welfare. A scholar of social issues, she defended the participation of the State as a regulatory and monitoring element of the assistance activities, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of the services provided to impoverished populations. This paper also analyzes some of her ideas about the role of the woman in the Spanish society in the XIX century, that help to interpret her life and work.