| Dictablanda: Politics, Work, and Culture in Mexico, 1938-1968 Contributor(s): Gillingham, Paul (Editor), Smith, Benjamin T. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0822356376 ISBN-13: 9780822356370 Publisher: Duke University Press OUR PRICE: $31.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Latin America - Mexico |
| Dewey: 972.082 |
| LCCN: 2013030268 |
| Series: American Encounters/Global Interactions |
| Physical Information: 0.96" H x 5.99" W x 9.15" (1.37 lbs) 464 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Latin America - Cultural Region - Mexican |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In 1910 Mexicans rebelled against an imperfect dictatorship; after 1940 they ended up with what some called the perfect dictatorship. A single party ruled Mexico for over seventy years, holding elections and talking about revolution while overseeing one of the world's most inequitable economies. The contributors to this groundbreaking collection revise earlier interpretations, arguing that state power was not based exclusively on hegemony, corporatism, or violence. Force was real, but it was also exercised by the ruled. It went hand-in-hand with consent, produced by resource regulation, political pragmatism, local autonomies and a popular veto. The result was a dictablanda: a soft authoritarian regime. This deliberately heterodox volume brings together social historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists to offer a radical new understanding of the emergence and persistence of the modern Mexican state. It also proposes bold, multidisciplinary approaches to critical problems in contemporary politics. With its blend of contested elections, authoritarianism, and resistance, Mexico foreshadowed the hybrid regimes that have spread across much of the globe. Dictablanda suggests how they may endure. |