Una sociedad "de cambio y no de beneficencia". El asociacionismo en la España liberal (1808-1936)

During the period 1808-1936, the liberal state dismantled the old system of religious charity belonging to the Ancien Régime, replacing it with public charity, conceived as a welfare instrument given the social risks represented by poverty, and as a means of controlling and converting the poor into useful citizens. In parallel, from civil society there arose different organisational models as a response to risk and as an attempt to neutralise the dissolving trends which generated pauperism in the social arena: associations and circles with philanthropic ends, mutual help societies, workers rights organisations, and a multiple of charity institutions and non-profit congregations, patronised by the church.