Paper short abstract:

Even though the permeability of social frontiers allowed the development of optimizations tactics related to the status, many of them triggered confrontations within communities. The conciliations of these disputes constituted common practices that are analyzed in this article.

Paper long abstract:

"Soy un pobre artesano, pero tengo honor". This phrase was said by Diego Escobar, an artisan living in Santiago de Chile in 1819, in an injury trial. It expressed the development of the concept of honor through the last colonial century. This notion had left to be a unique cultural code and exclusive patrimony of the elite and became a common representation used in various social environments. This article covers the circulation of cultural models through social frontiers in Santiago de Chile -located at the meridional borders of the Spanish Empire in America- through the analysis of the new notions of honor built by "bodegoneros", "pulperas", "peones", low level soldiers and servants.

Notwithstanding that social borders allowed the development of status optimization tactics, the action margins were not absolute and many of these strategies caused confrontations that placed tension to social relationships. Thus, conciliation was a common practice for settling the referred disputes. We herewith analyze the role that mediators displayed in this practice, passing through social and cultural frontiers in Santiago de Chile at the XVIII century.