Normalización y control: discursos médicos y pedagógicos sobre la infancia en Bogotá (1900-1950)

Abstract

Esta investigación se sitúa en el contexto de la modernización de la ciudad de Bogotá durante la primera mitad del siglo XX, periodo en el que la infancia comenzó a ser objeto de creciente preocupación por parte de médicos, pedagogos y sectores del Estado. A partir del análisis de discursos médicos y pedagógicos, se explora cómo estos actores formularon propuestas orientadas a la vigilancia, regulación y normalización de la infancia urbana, en un intento por moldear ciudadanos útiles, sanos y moralmente disciplinados. El estudio se centra en las ideas expresadas en manuales de puericultura, tesis médicas, textos pedagógicos y documentos de congresos, que permiten reconstruir las estrategias discursivas desde las cuales se buscó intervenir simbólicamente en el cuerpo, la mente y el comportamiento infantil. Aunque se mencionan propuestas concretas —como la figura del médico escolar o la introducción de clases de higiene y educación física—, la investigación no pretende evaluar su implementación ni sus efectos institucionales, debido a la falta de evidencia documental que permita rastrear su materialización. Inspirados en referentes internacionales como Adolphe Pinard y Ovide Decroly, los discursos locales adaptaron saberes médicos y pedagógicos a las condiciones específicas de Bogotá, consolidando una mirada biopolítica sobre la infancia. Lejos de documentar una colaboración estructural entre las disciplinas, este trabajo analiza las coincidencias, tensiones y objetivos comunes que marcaron las propuestas de higienistas y pedagogos en el marco del proyecto de modernización urbana. (Texto tomado de la fuente).

During the early decades of the 20th century, Bogotá underwent a process of urban and institutional modernization in which childhood became a central object of concern for doctors, educators, and state actors. In a context marked by anxieties about “racial degeneration” and high infant mortality, various discourses emerged seeking to regulate children’s bodies and shape a new kind of citizen in line with ideals of hygiene, order, and social progress promoted by Bogotá's intellectual and political elites. From the social and institutional sphere, health and education were increasingly seen as interconnected fields. As Maritza Gómez Ochoa has noted, educational and hygienic practices operated as civilizing tools intended to mold disciplined bodies and organized minds. While these ideas circulated across the country, their discursive formulation and clearest development can be traced in Bogotá, where medical and pedagogical actors produced a series of texts, diagnoses, and proposals focused on the urban child. Both medical and pedagogical discourses contributed to the articulation of an ideal of “normal” childhood—disciplined, healthy, and morally upright. Drawing on European and North American trends, local experts in Bogotá developed proposals for transforming child-rearing, educational content, and public health. This study focuses not on whether such proposals were effectively implemented, but rather on the symbolic and ideological constructions that sought to define and shape the child as a governable subject. In order to understand the visions of childhood constructed by these professionals, it is necessary to situate them within the political and educational ideals of the time. The Conservative Party, for example, promoted an image of the ideal citizen as a morally and religiously upright individual, formed through a deeply ethical and disciplined education. This perspective was reflected in educational proposals that combined moral instruction with medical authority. In the school setting, teachers were expected to instill habits of mutual aid, obedience, and respect for authority. These values were conceived not merely as personal virtues but as collective behaviors shaped by structured environments. In Bogotá, such ideals merged with medical language to reinforce the image of the teacher as both a moral guide and a hygienic authority. The child was thus conceived as a subject to be corrected, guided, and normalized—not only through content, but through bodily discipline and emotional regulation.