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Rural Revolt in Mexico

U.S. Intervention and the Domain of Subaltern Politics

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American Encounters/Global Interactions

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Book

Pages: 408

Published: June 1998

Editor: Daniel Nugent

Contributors: William C. Roseberry, Daniel Nugent, Alan Knight, John Coatsworth, Ruben Osorio, Jane-Dale Lloyd, Michael Kearney, Terri Koreck, Ana Alonso, Friedrich Katz, Adolfo Gilly

Rural Revolt in Mexico is a historical investigation of how subaltern political activity engages imperialism, capitalism, and the United States. In this volume, Daniel Nugent has gathered a group of leading scholars whose work examines the relationship of revolts by peasants and Indians in Mexico to the past century of U.S. intervention—from the rural rebellions of the 1840s through the 1910 revolution to the 1994 uprising in Chiapas.
Through their studies of social movements and popular mobilization in the Mexican countryside, the contributors argue for understanding rural revolts in terms of the specific historical contexts of particular regions and peoples, as well as the broader context of unequal cultural, political, and economic relations between Mexico and the United States. Exploring the connections between external and internal factors in social movements, these essays reveal the wide range of organized efforts through which peasants and Indians have struggled to shape their own destiny while confronted by the influence of U.S. capital and military might. Originally published as a limited edition in 1988 by the Center for U. S.–Mexican Studies, this volume presents a pioneering effort by Latin Americanist scholars to sympathetically embrace and enrich work begun in Subaltern Studies between 1982 and 1987 by projecting it onto a different region of historical experience. This revised and expanded edition includes a new introduction by Daniel Nugent and an extensive essay by Adolfo Gilly on the recent Chiapas uprising.

Praise

“[A]ll [the essays] are excellent examples of their genre.” - Mark Wasserman, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“The empirical studies in Rural Revolt in Mexico provide clear evidence and understanding of the historical roots and trajectories of peasants’ resistance despite the homogenizing effects of the current globalization process.” - Daniela Spenser , Hispanic American Historical Review

“The strength of this book lies in the careful arguments that each author makes to demonstrate the close connection between Mexican rural politics, social history, and U.S. economic and political interests. Taken together, the reader will better comprehend the forces that continue to shape local and national issues in Mexico and in the United States.” - Cheleen Mahar , Sociocultural Anthropology

"Given its wide interdisciplinary scope and its combination of current relevance with deep historical knowledge, it is safe to say that this book will be welcomed in many quarters." - Paul Friedrich, University of Chicago

"This is the best country-focused collection of essays available on rural politics and peasant movements in Latin America." - Leon Zamosc, University of California at San Diego

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Author/Editor Bios Table Of Contents Rights Additional Information

Author/Editor Bios

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Daniel Nugent (1954–1997) was a professor of anthropology and Latin American studies, a managing editor of the Journal of Historical Sociology, and coeditor of Everyday Forms of State Formation, also published by Duke University Press.

Table Of Contents

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Foreword / William Roseberry xi

Preface xvii

Introduction: Reasons to Be Cheerful / Daniel Nugent 1

I. Popular Nationalism and Anti-Imperialism in the Mexican Countryside

The United States and the Mexican Peasantry, circa 1880-1940 / Alan Knight 25

Measuring Influence: The United States and the Mexican Peasantry / John H. Coatsworth 64

Social Unrest, Nationalism, and American Capital in the Mexican Countryside, 1876-1920 / John Mason Hart 72

Villismo: Nationalism and Popular Mobilization in Northern Mexico / Ruben Osorio 89

II. Class, Ethnicity, and Space in Mexican Rural Revolts

Rancheros and Rebellion: The Case of Northwestern Chihuahua, 1905-1909 / Jane-Dale Lloyd 107

Mixtec Political Consciousness: From Passive to Active Resistance / Michael Kearney 134

Space and Revolution in Northeastern Chihuahua / Maria Teresa Koreck 147

III. U.S. Intervention and Popular Ideology

The United States, Feuding Elites, and Rural Revolt in Yucatan, 1836-1915 / Gilbert M. Joseph 173

U.S. Military Intervention, Revolutionary Mobilization, and Popular Ideology in the Chihuahua Sierra, 1916-1917 / Ana Maria Alonso 207

From Alliance to Dependency: The Formation and Deformation of an Alliance between Francisco Villa and the United States / Friedrich Katz 239

IV. Resistance and Persistence

Chiapas and the Rebellion of the Enchanted World / Adolfo Gilly 261

Bibliography 335

Index 365

Contributors 381

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Paper ISBN: 978-0-8223-2113-2 / Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8223-2086-9 / eISBN: 978-0-8223-8248-5 / DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822382485

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