Archival and Scholarly Resources in Oaxaca City for Mexico's Reorganization Period, 1917-1929

Extract

The historiography of the Mexican revolution has largely overlooked the period of the country's reorganization. Between the writing of the 1917 constitution and the creation of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) in 1929, the revolutionary government centralized its power, institutionalized its political system, and achieved widespread legitimacy for its social and economic program, referred to as the Official Revolution. The five major syntheses of the revolution that appeared during the 1980s added important insight to the conflict and generally emphasized the struggle's regional aspects. Although a trend toward neopopulism appeared, these scholars tended to argue that the revolution exhibited considerable local variety as opposed to traditional accounts of a nationally consistent agrarian uprising. These works also seriously damaged what has become known as the “careerist” school, which portrayed lower-class participation in the conflict as manipulated by power-hungry, revolutionary elites. Nevertheless, few authors extended the revolution's periodization beyond 1924. Thus, no study has yet fully analyzed the dynamics of Mexico's reorganization. Neither has a volume emerged that appreciates this process at the local level.