Synopses & Reviews
In
Rural Resistance in the Land of Zapata, Tanalandiacute;s Padilla shows that the period from 1940 to 1968, generally viewed as a time of social and political stability in Mexico, actually saw numerous instances of popular discontent and widespread state repression. Padilla provides a detailed history of a mid-twentieth-century agrarian mobilization in the Mexican state of Morelos, the homeland of Emiliano Zapata. In so doing, she brings to the fore the continuities between the popular struggles surrounding the Mexican Revolution and contemporary rural uprisings such as the Zapatista rebellion.
The peasants known in popular memory as Jaramillistas were led by Rubandeacute;n Jaramillo (1900andndash;1962). An agrarian leader from Morelos who participated in the Mexican Revolution and fought under Zapata, Jaramillo later became an outspoken defender of the rural poor. The Jaramillistas were inspired by the legacy of the Zapatistas, the peasant army that fought for land and community autonomy with particular tenacity during the Revolution. Padilla examines the way that the Jaramillistas used the legacy of Zapatismo but also transformed, expanded, and updated it in dialogue with other national and international political movements.
The Jaramillistas fought persistently through legal channels for access to land, the means to work it, and sustainable prices for their products, but the Mexican government increasingly closed its doors to rural reform. The government ultimately responded with repression, pushing the Jaramillistas into armed struggle, and transforming their calls for local reform into a broader critique of capitalism. With Rural Resistance in the Land of Zapata, Padilla sheds new light on the decision to initiate armed struggle, womenandrsquo;s challenges to patriarchal norms, and the ways that campesinos framed their demands in relation to national and international political developments.
Review
andldquo;
Rural Resistance in the Land of Zapata sets a new standard for historical studies of Mexican social protest and state repression after 1940. Drawing on rich campesino testimonies and state surveillance reports, Tanalandiacute;s Padilla illuminates the seamy underbelly of the andlsquo;Golden Ageandrsquo; decades, puncturing any lingering, hegemonic notions of the PRIandrsquo;s andlsquo;perfect dictatorship.andrsquo; More than an engrossing and poignant account of the Jaramillistasandrsquo; unremitting electoral and insurgent struggles to compel the Official Party to fulfill its agrarian promises, this volume provides critical insights into the nationandrsquo;s broader political experience and the dynamic nature of Latin American peasant movements.andrdquo;andmdash;
Gilbert M. Joseph, co-editor of
Everyday Forms of State Formation: Revolution and the Negotiation of Rule in Modern MexicoReview
“A wonderful example of regional history that is embedded in the history of post–World War II Mexico. Students of agrarian movements, contemporary Mexican history, and the grand drama of peasant struggles over land and social justice will find this book obligatory reading.”—Barry Carr, author of Marxism and Communism in Twentieth-Century Mexico
Review
andldquo;[A] nuanced and well-written book. . . . Padillaandrsquo;s recognition both of the flaws in the single party system and the prolonged resistance to it helps complicate any neat division between an orderly period of industrial growth and relative social peace from 1940-1968, and one of prolonged crisis that followed. This book should be required reading for scholars wishing to think more deeply about such issues.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;This is a concise recapitulation of little-known events during the PRIandrsquo;s heyday. It is truly a myth-breaker.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;One of the great strengths of this well-written book is that the author places the different periods in the regional history of peasant activism in Morelosandmdash; andlsquo;the land of Zapataandrsquo;andmdash;in the wider context of (inter)national developments.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;It is tempting to ask whether anything andlsquo;newandrsquo; can possibly be added to the andlsquo;newandrsquo; cultural history of Mexico, but Padilla delivers. . . . [N]early all of the powerful histories that have transformed our understanding of Mexico in recent years either conclude around 1940 or begin after 1968. This leaves a substantial gap, and Padillaandrsquo;s book goes a long way to fill it. . . . As nostalgia for the mythical peace of PRI rule gains force in Mexico this year, Padillaandrsquo;s reminder could not have come at a better time.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[Rural Resistance in the Land of Zapata] is valuable, pioneering. . .significantly advances debate on the fundamental nature of postrevolutionary Mexico.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Rural Rebellion is a valuable contribution to our understanding of this less-studied era of Mexican rural history. It is a well-researched and engaging book that should stimulate great interest among scholars of Mexican history, more generally, Latin Americanists and researcher of rural social movements and insurrections.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Case study of the mid-twentieth century Jaramillista agrarian movement which became a guerrilla insurgency, focusing on the contradictory political strategies which the movement and its leaders appropriated.
About the Author
Tanalandiacute;s Padilla is Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1. The Ghost of Zapata 26
2. Jaramillo, Candaacute;rdenas, and the Emiliano Zapata Cooperative 55
3. The Agrarista Tradition 85
4. andquot;Like Juandaacute;rez, with Our Offices on the Runandquot; 108
5. andquot;They Made Him into a Rebelandquot; 139
6. Gender, Community, and Struggle 161
7. Judas's Embrace 184
Conclusion: The Jaramillista Legacy 211
Notes 225
Bibliography 263
Index 279