Liberalism as utopia: the rise and fall of legal rule in post-colonial Mexico, 1820-1900

260 Pages·2017·2.281 MB·English

by  Schaefer, Timo H

Liberalism as Utopia
LiberalismasUtopiachallengeswidespreadperceptionsabouttheweaknessofMexico’s
nineteenth-century state. Schaefer argues that after the War of Independence non-
elite Mexicans – peasants, day laborers, artisans, local merchants – pioneered an
egalitarianformoflegalrulebyservinginthetowngovernmentsandcivicmilitias
thatbecamethelocalfacesofthestate’scoerciveauthority.Theseinstitutionswere
effectivebecausetheyembodiedpatriarchalnormsoflaborandcareforthefamilythat
werepremisedonthelegalequalityofadult,malecitizens.Thebookalsoexamines
theemergenceofnew,illiberalnormsthatchallengedtheegalitarianismoftheearly
republicanperiodand,attheendofthecentury,overwhelmedit.Bycomparingthe
legalculturesofagriculturalestates,mestizotowns,andindigenoustowns,Liberalism
asUtopiaproposesanewwayofunderstandingthesocialfoundationsofliberaland
authoritarianpathwaystostateformationinthenineteenthcentury.
Timo H. Schaefer received his PhD in history from Indiana University. Between
2015and2017,hewasapostdoctoralfellowattheUniversityofBritishColumbia.
cambridge latin american studies
GeneralEditors
KRISLANE,TulaneUniversity
MATTHEWRESTALL,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
EditorEmeritus
HERBERTS.KLEIN
GouverneurMorrisEmeritusProfessorofHistory,
ColumbiaUniversityandHooverResearchFellow,
StanfordUniversity
Liberalism as Utopia
The Rise and Fall of Legal Rule in Post-Colonial
Mexico, 1820–1900
TIMO H. SCHAEFER
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107190733
DOI:10.1017/9781108116145
©TimoH.Schaefer2017
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Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Introduction 1
I LiberalismasUtopia 1
II PeasantandNation 7
III LawandRevolution 13
1 MestizoTowns 20
I Politics 20
II Soldiers 26
III Patricians 37
IV Municipalities 48
2 FamilyandLegalOrder 62
I Families 62
II Recruitment 65
III TheCivicMilitia 79
IV CivilWar 89
3 Haciendas 97
I LandandRevolution 97
II Disorder 101
III Metamorphosis 105
IV Despots 112
V RegionsofRefuge 122
4 IndigenousTowns 129
I ASeparatePeople 129
II ColonialLegacies 133
III LandConflicts 152
vii
viii Contents
5 Dictatorship 161
I Mythologies 161
II JefesPolíticos 165
III Privatization 178
IV Labor 187
V LocalCourts 197
Conclusion:LawandExceptionintheMakingofModernMexico 204
Bibliography 216
Index 239