“[A]n invaluable resource for any nonspecialist seeking a rigorous and in-depth consideration of the topic. . . . A necessary addition to any respectable collection on Latin American history or 20th-century politics. . . . Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” — J. M. Rosenthal, Choice
“This timely edited volume explores how the country that launched the first social revolution of the twentieth century became one of the world’s most unequal and least democratic societies. Its regional and methodological sweep is impressive. Taken together, the eighteen chapters challenge the conventional wisdom in many ways. Graduate students in particular will mine this volume for promising leads; indeed, this book will likely inspire a wave of interdisciplinary research on the period.” — Stephen E. Lewis, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Dictablanda is a must read for students of Mexican history and politics, and provides a useful synthesis of the emerging works on this under-researched period" — Amelia M. Kiddle, Labour Le Travail
"Dictablanda’s publication marks a watershed in the study of postrevolutionary Mexico. … The collection’s theoretical pluralism and thematic diversity defies easy characterization." — Ben Fallaw, The Americas
"[T]his volume brings together important case studies and contributes to a debate about how to conceptualize the era. It is essential reading for scholars of post-revolutionary Mexico." — Louise E. Walker, Hispanic American Historical Review
"Combining two generations of scholarship in the historiography of postrevolutionary Mexico, this collection of essays is a masterpiece. It constitutes the first-ever effort to study in detail the heyday of Mexico’s official revolutionary party from the oil expropriation of 1938 to the government’s massacre of student protesters at Mexico City’s Tlatelolco Square in 1968....it should be required reading for anyone interested in twentieth-century Latin America." — Jurgen Buchenau, The Historian
"Essays in . . . Dictablanda take a decentered look at the Mexican state. In their excellent historiographical essay, they reject the idea of a perfect dictatorship and the framework of hegemony for understanding PRI dominance."
— Mary Kay Vaughan, Latin American Research Review "This ambitious volume offers a provocative and timely reconsideration of Mexican state formation. Its diverse and empirically rich case studies examine politics on the ground, providing unusual insights into the mechanisms of Mexico's authoritarian regime. This book will be indispensable reading for anyone seeking to understand the ruling party's astonishing ability to retain power and countless challenges to its legitimacy." — Jocelyn Olcott, author of Revolutionary Women in Post Revolutionary Mexico
"Dictablanda provides a rich interpretation of the so-called Golden Age of PRI rule. The collection's regional, thematic, and methodological sweep is impressive, as is the roster of contributors and the painstaking research that each has conducted in local, regional, national, and international archives. Dictablanda is certain to fill gaps, complicate existing narratives, and become a cornerstone of scholarship for years to come." — Gilbert M. Joseph, coauthor of Mexico's Once and Future Revolution