The bertillonage in the South American Atlantic World

In the second half of the nineteenth century, several South American countries embarked on reforms of their police forces, in line with the process of construction of national states. Certain “police models” that circulated as effective cultural devices in Europe during that same period proved to be in many cases useful legitimization instruments for the institutional modernization projects undertaken locally. Paris and the “French model” were by far a favorite source of inspiration for South...