REVOLUTION IN MEXICO

2/8/2010

Notes

Class materials, including PowerPoints and readings, may now be found at: http://www.reginanockerts.com/polmktslatam.htmI will still use BlackBoard to send email announcements and you may still use Digital Dropbox.

The most recent edition of the Chasteen book has different chapter numbering than what is listed on the syllabus. Please make sure that you are reading the chapters titled "Nationalism" and "Revolution."

What is Revolution?

Political Revolution: “a movement that brings about the (violent) overthrow of a government, after which the revolutionary forces take power, at least for a time. …[and] a major social and/or political-ideological change must also take place…”

Keddie, Debating Revolutions, 1995

Profound change in basic existing power structures Power-holders Political organization Social structures

Questions Speed Duration Pervasiveness Violence

When do Revolutions Happen?In Latin America revolutions happen when… … a structurally weak regime…

the regime engenders cross-class opposition the ruling class is distant from civil society and cannot mobilize

social support Highly personalized rule cannot mobilize nationalist or patriotic

imagery to reinforce solidarity and morale … meets a guerilla opposition force …

has sufficient military power to endure and outlast military repression

has sufficient power to achieve a confrontational transfer of power … which garners popular support:

the opposition garners widespread social support – which, in Latin America, must include peasant support

cross-class opposition is usually based on nationalism or patriotism

There is no guaranteeWickham-Crowley, 1992

Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America

The Porfiriato

A weak regime Highly personalized rule Distance from civil society and

cannot mobilize social support Accommodation with foreign

corporations, the Catholic Church, and large landowners were unpopular

Economic diversification led to rising food costs and even food shortages as resources were shifted away from subsistence agriculture

Cross-class opposition Díaz frequently ignored the 1857

Constitution Wildly fraudulent elections in 1910

The Revolutionary Oppositionguerilla opposition force has sufficient military

power to endure and outlast military repression

has sufficient power to achieve a confrontational transfer of power

The Leaders Francisco Madero Pancho Villa Emiliano Zapata Venustiano Carranza

The Revolutionary Opposition Early Presidents

Francisco Madero, 1911-1913 Victoriano Huerta, 1913-1914 Venustiano Carranza, 1914-1920 Alvaro Obregón, 1920-1924

Revolutionary Mexico

The state offers the minimum necessary reform to ensure the legitimacy of the “revolutionary” state.

Political Enfranchisement Universal male suffrage, 1912 The Mexican Constitution of 1917

Mode of Production and Property Land reform

The amount of land held in independent farms of 1,000 or more hectares dropped from 82% in 1923 to 32% in 1970

Modernization was in tension with revolutionary land reform

Revolutionary Mexico

Class Relations Tensions between lower class demands for social

justice and elite desire for social and political stability

The revolution ties popular identity to the state instead of village or patron

State control over social reform led to general acceptance of the ideals and rhetoric of social justice

Foreign Relations FDR’s "Good Neighbor" policy and public

commitment to refrain from military intervention When Mexico nationalized its oil industry1938, the

US forebear to intervene despite industry pressure Mexico's fear of incurring US displeasure by

supporting leftist governments in Latin America

¿Viva la Revolución?

The mixed goals of the government ultimately limited its ability to succeed at either social justice or stability

The descent: 1934-1940, Cárdenas 1940-1946, Manuel Avila Camacho 1946-1952, Miguel Alemán

1968, The Tlatelolco massacre 1982, Bankruptcy 1994, The Zapatista Army of National Liberation 2000-2006, Vicente Fox

¿Viva la Revolución?

Does the idea of the revolution still hold legitimizing power?

Zapatismo: Struggle for land, peasant rights, local autonomy, and self government

Poncho Villa: Patriotic sentiment attached to the idea of Villa as warlord, macho, successfully invaded the US

Cárdenas: nationalization and national pride attached to his actions as President - nationalization of the oil industry, recognition of indigenous identity and its incorporation into a new national identity, reform and modernization (ex land reform and education)

HOWEVER, polls show that the PRI was no longer popularly perceived as revolutionary by the 1960s.

Questions

What are the major factors shaping revolutionary outcomes?

Is revolution a good thing?

Is revolution possible in Latin America today? Probable?