We show how to systematically derive the rules for bosonization in two dimensions as a particular case of a duality transformation. The duality process amounts to gauging the global symmetry of the original (fermionic) theory, and constraining the corresponding field strength Fμν to vanish. Integration over the Lagrange multiplier, Λ, for this constraint then reproduces the original theory, and integration over the gauge fields generates the dual theory with Λ as the new (bosonized) variable. We work through the bosonization of the Dirac fermion, the massive and massless Thirring models, and a fermion on a cylindrical spacetime as illustrative examples.