Psychoanalysis offers an interpretive framework for the understanding of mestizo identity. The spheres of law and of values serve as the symbolic reference for the construction of this identity. Institutions such as the church, state, and family act as vehicles for transmitting these values, building from them a mestizo imaginary that is re-created in the workplace, beliefs, social opportunities, and in everyday life. The mestizo responds to these social demands that influence his or her social

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... self with values adjusted to his or her reality and re-signified from particular family and cultural histories, which are not exempt from conflict. The Province of Santafé in the second half of the nineteenth century serves as the backdrop to offer reflections on this issue