Cardenas Compromised: The Failure of Reform in Postrevolutionary Yucatan (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780822327677)

C疵denas Compromised is a political and institutional history of Mexico's urban and rural labor in the Yucat疣 region during the regime of L痙aro C疵denas from 1934 to 1940. Drawing on archival materials, both official and popular, Fallaw combines narrative, individual case studies, and focused political analysis to reexamine and dispel long-cherished beliefs about the Cardenista era.
For historical, geographical, and ethnic reasons, Yucat疣 was the center of large-scale land reform after the Mexican Revolution. A long-standing revolutionary tradition, combined with a harsh division between a powerful white minority and a poor, Maya-speaking majority, made the region the perfect site for C疵denas to experiment by launching an ambitious top-down project to mobilize the rural poor along ethnic and class lines. The regime encouraged rural peasants to form collectives, hacienda workers to unionize, and urban laborers to strike. It also attempted to mobilize young people and women, to challenge Yucat疣's traditional, patriarchal social structure, to reach out to Mayan communities, and to democratize the political process. Although the project ultimately failed, political dialogue over C疵denas's efforts continues. Rejecting both revisionist (anti-C疵denas) and neopopulist (pro-C疵denas) interpretations, Fallaw overturns the notion that the state allowed no room for the agency of local actors. By focusing on historical connections across class, political, and regional lines, Fallaw transforms ideas on Cardenismo that have long been accepted not only in Yucat疣 but throughout Mexico.
This book will appeal to scholars of Mexican history and of Latin American state formation, as well as to sociologists and political scientists interested in modern Mexico.


Author: Ben Fallaw
ISBN-10: 0822327678
ISBN-13: 9780822327677
Publisher: Duke University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/17/2001
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.87lbs
Size: 9.22h x 5.92w x 0.69d