Significant Resources on 20th-Century Mexico

Beer, Caroline C.  Electoral competition and institutional change in Mexico. Notre Dame, 2003.  194p bibl index afp ISBN 0-268-02766-8 $45.00; ISBN 0-268-02767-6 pbk, $20.00. Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2004apr CHOICE.
41-4898 JL1281 2003-4349 CIP

The central thesis of Beer’s book is that “electoral competition has important institutional consequences that lead to strengthened representative institutions and a greater separation of powers.” Classic democratic theory, new institutionalist literature, and critiques of contemporary Latin American democracy inform the theoretical framework. This book is unique in that it focuses on subnational politics, specifically state legislatures and governors, providing insight into the impact of competition on legislative institutions. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods that include interviews with members and employees of state congresses, day-to-day observations of legislative sessions and committee meetings, mail surveys of members of state congresses, economic data on state expenditures and revenues, and the analysis of three case studies (Guanajuato, Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi), Beer (Univ. of Vermont) concludes that subnational politics do have significant consequences for the national political process. In the course of her analysis she creates three original data sets. Beer’s straightforward and accessible writing style, methodological rigor, and academic contribution are first class. Beer’s book is a must for students of Mexican politics and of the democratization process in general. Summing Up: Essential. All levels. — I. Coronado, University of Texas at El Paso

Dawson, Alexander S.  First world dreams: Mexico since 1989. Fernwood Publishing/Zed Books, 2006.  194p bibl index , ISBN 1-84277-660-6 $90.00; ISBN 1842776614 pbk, $19.95;  ISBN 9781842776612 $19.95. Reviewed in 2007sep CHOICE.
45-0430 F1236   Can. CIP

Dawson (Simon Fraser Univ.) describes the tremendous transformation Mexico experienced with the 1988-94 Carlos Salinas de Gortari administration to the period leading up to the 2006 presidential election. Chapter one explains that a series of factors, such as the expansion of globalization and the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, prepared Mexicans for “Salinastroika,” when Salinas de Gortari opened up the Mexican economy to foreign investment and reduced the number of public sector firms from 1,155 to 232. The rest of the book focuses on critical elements of this period, including the end of political party PRI’s hegemony (especially Vicente Fox’s 2000 presidential election), the Chiapas rebellion, an appraisal of NAFTA ten years later, immigration’s impact on Mexican politics and US-Mexican relations, and the health of Mexican democracy in the 21st century. This insightful study successfully explains Mexico’s change from a one-party political system safeguarded by its control over the economy, to a society characterized by multiple political parties and a free market financial structure. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, and professional practitioners doing business in Mexico. — J. R. Aguila, University of Texas of the Permian Basin

Folgarait, Leonard.  Seeing Mexico photographed: the work of Horne, Casasola, Modotti, and Álvarez Bravo.  Yale, 2008.  252p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780300140927, $50.00. Reviewed in 2009mar CHOICE.
46-3662  TR820  2008-6086 CIP 

Folgarait (Vanderbilt) offers a study of the revolutionary and postrevolutionary period in Mexico from 1910 to 1935. But it is one facilitated through photographs, and the author indicates his aim to understand Mexico during this period by seeing it photographed. He has selected the photographers for different reasons: a group working around 1910-15 as documentary photographers of the armed period of the revolution; Tina Modotti, who produced work intended to be explicitly political and propagandistic; and Manuel Álvarez Bravo, whose work is highly introspective and on the surface seems somewhat distant from social and political issues. The contributions on Modotti and Álvarez Bravo bring readers’ knowledge to a new place of insight and understanding. Folgarait provides considerable background to each photographer’s works, but importantly selects a few specific images for close analysis. Different from the usual stylistic approach, this is storytelling at its best. This turn is unusual in such a historical study, and it gives this work a true significance concerning intent and context. This is a rewarding book, both for the subject of Mexican history and for photographic studies. Extensive notes and bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — P. C. Bunnell, emeritus, Princeton University 

Gutmann, Matthew C.  The romance of democracy: compliant defiance in contemporary Mexico.  California, 2002.  289p bibl index afp ISBN 0-520-23528-2 pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2003sep CHOICE.
41-0560 JL1281 2002-58501 CIP

This ethnographic study of Mexican democratization is a must-read if only for its vivid anecdotes and intriguing insights. Based on the author’s anthropological observation and personal engagement, which began in 1991 and lasted nearly ten years in Colonia Santo Domingo, a colonia popular or working-class neighborhood of Mexico City, this microanalysis provides a wider and deeper understanding of Mexico’s popular and national political culture. Central research questions focus on the meaning of democracy, agency, and resistance in the lives of ordinary Mexicans. Gutmann convincingly demonstrates that much can “be learned from a stratum of the population that is not made up primarily of political activists, nor truly representative of the inertia and disinterest often considered typical of the impoverished masses.” The romanticism of democracy aside, Gutmann explores the residents’ political consciousness of the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre, the 1994 Chiapas uprising, globalization, and the 2000 elections to determine whether, in the true meaning of democracy, these everyday folks can substantially change their world. A very readable book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, researchers, and professionals alike. — W. Q. Morales, University of Central Florida

Haber, Paul Lawrence.  Power from experience: urban popular movements in late twentieth-century Mexico.  Pennsylvania State, 2006.  280p bibl index afp ISBN 0-271-02707-X $55.00. Reviewed in 2006oct CHOICE.
44-1184 HN113  2005-13858 CIP

Haber (Univ. of Montana) carried out participant-observer research on radical social movements in Mexico between 1988 and 1999. This book focuses on the rise and fall of the Comit^D’e de Defensa Popular (CDP) of the state of Durango and the Asamblea de Barrios (AB) of Mexico City from the 1970s through the early 1990s. The author does much more than discuss the importance of these two organizations; he carefully relates social movements to social theory within the Mexican context. This analysis helps one understand how the Mexican political system both withstood popular movements and was ultimately (if only partially) transformed by them. The Maoist CDP, which organized land invasions and created autonomous colonias in Durango, eventually entered electoral politics and participated in the Solidarity program of the Salinas presidency (1988-94). The AB, a radical housing-oriented organization, which responded to the 1985 earthquake in the Federal District, affiliated with Cuauhtemoc Cardenas’s PRD party and refused to participate in the Salinas-era welfare program. The CDP and the AB ultimately failed but they played a part as Mexico succeeded by replacing the authoritarian PRI party and establishing a real democracy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through practitioner collections. — R. E. Hartwig, Texas A&M University–Kingsville

The Human tradition in Mexico, ed. by Jeffrey M. Pilcher.  SR Books, 2003.  242p bibl index afp  (The human tradition around the world, 6) ISBN 0-8420-2975-3 $65.00; ISBN 0-8420-2976-1 pbk, $19.95. Reviewed in 2003sep CHOICE.
41-0492 F1226  2002-30685 CIP

What a delightful collection of well-honed essays! These 15 biographical sketches organized around key stations on the Mexico City metro system include no top-level political or military leaders; most subjects are prominent members of the evolving society from the early movements for independence to the present. The subjects of the essays range from the brilliant and erratic apostle of independence, Fray Servando Teresa do Mier, to former circus performer Princess Agnes Salm-Salm (who pleaded with Benito Ju^D’arez (Juarez) to spare the life of Emperor Maximilian) and cinema star Maria F^D’elix (Felix), whose turbulent marriage to composer Agustin Lara rivaled the magic of her moments on the silver screen for public attention. There is also an entertaining sketch of the career of Josefina Vel^D’azquez (Velazquez) de Le^D’on (Leon), whose magic recipes revolutionized the presentation and acceptance of Mexican cooking. The only truly obscure subjects are Pedro and Enriqueta, young lovers in early-20th-century Chihuahua whose letters provide an intriguing glimpse into the society that produced their troubled courtship and tragic murder-suicide. Taken as a whole, the sketches provide a unique and very human insight into the complex nature of Mexican history and culture and will be useful as special reading assignments in both undergraduate and graduate courses dealing with Mexico. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels and collections. — E. H. Moseley, University of Alabama

Lawson, Chappell H.  Building the fourth estate: democratization and the rise of a free press in Mexico.  California, 2002.  287p bibl index afp ISBN 0-520-23170-8 $50.00; ISBN 0-520-23171-6 pbk, $19.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2003mar CHOICE.
40-4249 PN4748 2002-715 CIP

In this fascinating, well-researched, and clearly written book Lawson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) explores the changing role of the media in Mexico from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The old authoritarian regime in Mexico was identified with a quiescent and servile media that were tame coconspirators with Mexico’s ruling political party. By the late 1990s, however, both print and broadcast media had become more independent, assertive, and professional. What caused this change? Lawson argues persuasively that political liberalization was one cause, but other factors such as changing journalistic norms and increased market competition played more significant roles. Further, increased media independence then proceeded to affect the ongoing liberalization of civil society. The new media also changed political alignments and eventually contributed to the loss of political power by the political machine that had governed Mexico from 1929 to the late 1990s. This is undoubtedly the best study of the role of the media in developing countries and should be widely read. The writing is unusually clear and precise. Summing Up: Essential. All reading levels. — E. A. Duff, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

Levy, Santiago.  Good intentions, bad outcomes: social policy, informality, and economic growth in Mexico.  Brookings, 2008.  357p bibl index afp ISBN 0815752199 pbk, $27.95; ISBN 9780815752196 pbk, $27.95. Reviewed in 2008dec CHOICE.
46-2199 HN113 2008-5704 CIP

Levy (Inter-American Development Bank; previously Mexico’s deputy finance minister and later its Social Security Institute director) presents an insightful analysis of Mexican social policy. This rare book combines the familiarity and impressive knowledge of one of the main architects of this policy with the type of critique more often provided by outsiders. Levy’s focus on the distinction between formal and informal employment makes this volume an interesting extension to the collection of case studies found in Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, Ravi Kanbur, and Elinor Ostrom’s Linking the Formal and Informal Economy. Levy’s considerable economics training as well as his strong support for social protections are evident throughout this work. He educates the reader about the shortcomings in Mexican social policy while providing a detailed design for its reform. Although his proposal is quite revolutionary (universal benefits in place of the current social security system, funded by consumption rather than payroll taxes), this is a serious proposal by an author with impeccable credentials. It should generate important debate among scholars and policy makers in Mexico and elsewhere. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. — L. W. Young, Southern Oregon University

Martínez Novo, Carmen.  Who defines indigenous?: identities, development, intellectuals, and the state in northern Mexico. Rutgers, 2006.  187p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8135-3669-3 $23.95. Reviewed in 2007jan CHOICE.
44-2857 F1221  2005-4407 CIP

In this fine and provocative ethnography, Mart^D’inez Novo (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Sede Ecuador) examines the creation and meaning of differences and identities–in particular, those related to ethnicity and race–in the frontier state of Baja California, Mexico. She focuses on the positionality of indigenous day laborers, many of them Mixtec from southern Mexico, employed as field hands in export-oriented agriculture. This is not, however, a study of an ethnic enclave or a subordinated group, but a critical ethnography of elites and powerful institutions or, as Mart^D’inez Novo phrases the matter, “the impact of external influences in the construction of indigenous migrant identity, and the anatomy of racism and paternalism” as they manifest themselves in northern Mexico. The author makes it clear that she is not against difference, but rather the imposition from above of a selected meaning of difference. As she notes, in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, indigenous status is commonly associated with docility, frugality, and a willingness to accept low wages. Democracy, she argues, should be built not only on respect for diversity but on the redistribution of economic and other resources. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — O. Pi-Sunyer, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Mattiace, Shannan L.  To see with two eyes: peasant activism & Indian autonomy in Chiapas, Mexico.  New Mexico, 2003.  204p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8263-2315-4 pbk, $21.95. Reviewed in 2004jul CHOICE.
41-6707 F1219  2003-7239 CIP

Perhaps the most important and yet enigmatic issue of contention to arise from the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, was the question of Indian rights and autonomy. The only accords signed between rebels and the government addressed that question and promised reform, even as numerous other Latin American countries have similarly had to restructure their relationships with indigenous peoples. But what are “Indian rights” and “Indian autonomy”? Political scientist Mattiace (Allegheny College) does not explore what those terms should mean. Rather, she draws on years of fieldwork in Mexico and her own direct participation in some relevant forums of debate in Chiapas to portray how different parties brought to the negotiating tables very different notions of rights and autonomy, derived from their contrasting social and economic contexts and historical experiences. Mattiace explains the recent upsurge in ethnic demands as just the most recent development in a decades-long history of agrarian organizing and struggle. Argument continues south of the US border on how to change Mexico’s political and judicial systems to accommodate the multicultural character of their society. This book is the best introduction available to that debate. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels and libraries. — P. R. Sullivan, independent scholar

Morris, Stephen D.  Gringolandia: Mexican identity and perceptions of the United States.  Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.  309p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8420-5146-5 $75.00; ISBN 0842051473 pbk, $26.95. Reviewed in 2005dec CHOICE.
43-2394 E183 2004-18386 CIP

Throughout this wonderful book on the way Mexicans perceive the US, Morris (Univ. of South Alabama) skillfully shows that while the discourse of Mexican politicians deals with the political present, privileging the issues of economic prosperity and development, Mexican school texts portray the US as historically anti-Mexican and dangerous. Mexican political caricatures go the furthest in portraying the US in less than flattering terms. At the same time, the writings of Mexican intellectuals pinpoint key differences between the two societies and rely on those differences to explain why the US has enjoyed the success that has escaped Mexico. After analyzing Mexican movies and consumption patterns, Morris contends that public opinion polls show that Mexicans have a generally favorable opinion of the US, but are divided over whether or not to trust their northern neighbor. The polls also confirm that the US is seen as materialistic, arrogant, and imperialistic, yet enjoying an admirable political and economic system. Morris ends this very important book by claiming that the imaginary Mexico constructed by the different discourses he analyzes necessarily needs the construction of an equally imaginary US to sustain itself. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — P. Vila, Temple University

Rodríguez (Rodriguez), Victoria E.  Women in contemporary Mexican politics.  Texas, 2003.  322p bibl index afp ISBN 0-292-77125-8 $50.00; ISBN 0-292-77127-4 pbk, $22.95. Reviewed in 2003dec CHOICE.
41-2441 HQ1236 2002-13122 CIP

Rodríguez (Rodriguez) (Univ. of Texas, Austin) has written many fine books about Mexican politics, including an edited collection on women. This one will become the most comprehensive and authoritative classic on women in Mexican politics and democratization. Although Rodríguez (Rodriguez) provides historical background, her focus is 1994 to 2000. She emphasizes two groups of women: those in political parties (elected and appointed office), and those in nongovernment organizations and grassroots groups. She and her students from the LBJ School of Public Affairs closely monitored women politicians’ interactions with others and recorded reflections just after they occurred. Additionally, Rodríguez (Rodriguez) conducted in-depth interviews with many women in politics. Readers will find new, contemporary material on efforts to create quotas for women in public office, the National Women’s Institute, and violence against women as a public policy issue. The style is accessible, and the analysis is nicely connected to other literature on democratization, both in Mexico and comparative politics generally. A 30-page bibliography is included. Rodríguez (Rodriguez) is optimistic about changes in Mexican politics, but concludes with some ambivalence, wondering “if democracy in Mexico is being reframed without fully including [women].” Complements her Women’s Participation in Mexican Political Life (1998) Summing Up: Essential. All libraries. — K. Staudt, University of Texas at El Paso

Santiago, Myrna I.  The ecology of oil: environment, labor, and the Mexican Revolution, 1900-1938.  Cambridge, 2006.  411p bibl index ISBN 0-521-86324-4 $85.00; ISBN 9780521863247 $85.00. Reviewed in 2007apr CHOICE.
44-4618 HD9574 2006-6970 CIP

This exceptional study weds themes of Mexican historiography with the fresh perspectives of environmental history. In seven chapters, divided into three thematically structured sections with some chronological overlap, Santiago (St. Mary’s College of California) considers the social and environmental history of northern Veracruz, the technology and impact of the oil industry, and the playing out of the Mexican Revolution. At times the themes overlap with more traditional approaches including labor history, gendered analysis, land tenure, class, ethnicity, and social history in general, yet in each section the discussion is enriched by the environmental perspective. Sections on the changing physical environment of the groups who are the study’s protagonists are particularly compelling. The result is a satisfying whole–rich, nuanced, and accessible. As the story moves from Huasteca’s origins as a tropical forest to the two-month apocalypse of the exploding well at Dos Bocas in 1908, to the role of radical unions in pushing President L^D’azaro C^D’ardenas to expropriate the holdings of foreign companies, the book is detailed and compelling. Santiago offers an impressive combination of new research and new insight on a familiar topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; academic audiences, lower-division undergraduate through faculty. — J. M. Rosenthal, Western Connecticut State University

Schlefer, Jonathan.  Palace politics: how the ruling party brought crisis to Mexico.  Texas, 2008.  297p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780292717572 $60.00; ISBN 9780292717589 pbk, $24.95. Reviewed in 2008dec CHOICE.
46-2329 F1234  2007-27198 CIP

Schlefer takes full advantage of his journalist background to write an intriguing behind-the-scenes book illuminating the shadowy world of elite politics in Mexico. Relying upon an impressive collection of elite interviews, Schlefer argues that economic crisis is the direct result of elite conflict. When elites agree to divide the political spoils, reserving even just a small space at the table for the “losers,” the stakes of competition remain low. In contrast, when the losers of political conflict are completely marginalized, elites become determined to win at all costs and embark on massive public spending campaigns to court other elite factions within the ruling party. To test this hypothesis, Schlefer traces six decades of Mexican political and economic development, providing an excellent historical overview of elite politics and its linkages to economic stability and crisis. Schlefer provides empirical evidence connecting cycles of government spending to elite conflict and consensus; he does not find empirical support for the alternative theories of structural failure or populism. Schlefer’s analysis lacks the attention to research design and methodology that is typical of political science, but this ultimately makes his scholarship more accessible to all readership levels, especially when coupled with his engaging writing style. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — M.-F. T. Malone, University of New Hampshire

Shorris, Earl.  The life and times of Mexico.  W.W. Norton, 2004. 780p bibl index ISBN 0-393-05926-X $29.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2005apr CHOICE.
42-4813 F1210  2004-9873 CIP

Thirty dollars for a 780-page book is a bargain! However, this extremely well-written book would have been a steal at triple the price. Sociologist, prolific author, and founder and chair of the advisory board of the Clemente Course in the Humanities (an eight-month course in poetry, logic, art history, US history, and moral philosophy), Shorris is a man who loves his subject. His life obsession has been languages and cultures, and this nonlinear history weaves the past with the present in much the same way that bilingual people weave English and Spanish into a paragraph. One minute, Shorris talks about Father Miguel Hidalgo and his Grito de Dolores, which set Mexico on the road to independence in 1810, then he expertly switches to the near-present, writing about Mercedes Olivera Bustamante, an anthropologist and feminist working among Mayan women. Shorris subtly exposes the racism that has plagued Mexico since colonial times. His message is to restore a respect for Native cultures and a cry to preserve them. Although this is a large book, this reviewer reached the end wanting to read more–not only more about Mexico, but also more about the people living in the shadow of the past. Summing Up: Essential. All public and academic libraries. — R. Acuña, California State University, Northridge

Standish, Peter.  A companion to Mexican studies.  Tamesis, 2006. 225p bibl index afp  (Colecci^D’on Támesis. Serie A: monografías, 230) ISBN 1-85566-134-9 $80.00; ISBN 9781855661349 $80.00. Reviewed in 2007jun CHOICE.
44-5812 F1210   MARC

Standish (East Carolina Univ.) surveys the cultural and political ingredients of the past that have built the foundation of contemporary Mexico. The book is historically divided into pre-Hispanic, colonial, post-independence, and post-revolutionary periods. The first chapter in the pre-Hispanic section is perhaps the least well rounded of the entire book. This chapter describes the great cultural periods of the Olmecs, Mayas, and Aztecs, but forgets the peripheral in western and northern ancient Mexico. In contrast, the survey of the modern period has the most comprehensive coverage. While this chapter is a great survey of the cultural and political aspects of Mexico City or central Mexico, Standish forgets the other developments in the rest of the country. For each period, the author looks at some of the cultural products, e.g., art, theater, literature, music, dance, and cinema. The book has a brief chapter on Mexican Spanish that includes the language’s history, lexicon, morphology, syntax, and phonology. Also included are a useful chronology, glossary, suggested readings, bibliography, maps, Web sites, and illustrations. Despite the first chapter’s weakness, the book is a great companion to understanding Mexican culture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — R. A. Santillan, College of Staten Island