The author presents a comparative study of neoliberalism in two Mexican localities, Monterrey and Oaxaca, using the analytical lens of a ‘topography’. Although in theory a common set of ideas underpins neoliberal ideology and policy, in practice the way in which neoliberal projects are materialized in specific locations is differentiated, segmented, and highly uneven. Reflecting this, neoliberalism appears to have exacerbated regional differences in Mexico. An emphasis on topography draws attention to the political–economic processes that produce such difference. This destabilizes commonsensical representations of regional difference in Mexico, which pit a modern, industrialized, and increasingly democratic North against an impoverished, traditional, and authoritarian South. Furthermore, drawing analytical linkages across place allows the production of situated political responses to neoliberalism to be brought into coalition.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acosta CórdovaCJáquezA, 2000, “The regiomontano magnates begin to receive their rewards”Proceso number 1240, 10–14 (in Spanish).
2.
AgnewJ, 2002Place and Politics in Modern Italy (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL).
3.
AlanísJ M, 2000, “Private initiative kept the lands of Fundidora in Monterrey”Proceso number 1224, 32–33 (in Spanish).
4.
BouillonC PLegoviniALustigN, 2003, “Rising inequality in Mexico: Household characteristics and regional effects”Journal of Development Studies39112–133.
5.
CameronMTomlinB, 2000The Making of NAFTA: How the Deal was Done (Cornell University Press, Ithica, NY).
6.
CastañedaJ, 1996The Mexican Shock: Its Meaning for the United States (The New Press, New York).
7.
CeruttiM, 1995, “The new border and Santiago Vidaurri, 1855–1864”, in Atlas of Monterrey Ed. Garza VillarrealG, The State Government of Nuevo León, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, the Institute of Urban Studies, and College of Mexico, Monterrey, NL, Mexico, pp 84–88 (in Spanish).
8.
CeruttiM, 1998, “Birth of industry and the businessman”, in Monterrey 400, Past and Present Ed. Durate OrtegaN, The Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Monterrey, NL, Mexico, pp 79–98 (in Spanish).
9.
CeruttiMOrtegaIPalaciosL, 1999, “Economic groups in Northern Mexico: From the oligarchic state to globalization”, in Globalization in Nuevo León Ed. Gutiérrez GarzaE, Secretary of Extension and Culture, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, El Caballito Editions, Mexico, DF, Mexico, pp 51–114 (in Spanish).
10.
ClarkeC, 2000Class, Ethnicity, and Community in Southern Mexico, Oaxaca's Peasantries (Oxford University Press, Oxford).
11.
ColemanM, 2002, “Thinking about the World Bank's ‘accordion’ geography of financial globalization”Political Geography21495–524.
12.
CooneyP, 2001, “The Mexican crisis and the maquiladora boom”Latin American Perspectives2855–83.
13.
DemmersJ, 2001, “Neoliberal reform and populist politics: The PRI in Mexico”, in Miraculous Metamorphosis: The Neoliberalization of Latin American Populism Eds DemmersJFernández JilbertoA EHogenboomB (Zed Press, London) pp 150–181.
14.
DickenPPeckJTickellA, 1997, “Unpacking the global”, in Geographies of Economies Eds LeeRWillsJ (Edward Arnold, Sevenoaks, Kent) pp 158–166.
15.
Dussel PetersE, 2000Polarizing Mexico, The Impact of Liberalization Strategy (Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO).
16.
ErfaniJ, 1995The Paradox of the Mexican State Rereading Sovereignty from Independence to NAFTA (Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO).
17.
EschleC, 2001Global Democracy, Social Movements, and Feminism (Westview Press, Boulder, CO).
FoxJArandaJ, 1996Decentralization and Rural Development in Mexico: Community Participation in Oaxaca's Municipal Funds Program (Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, CA).
20.
GarzaG, 1995, “Macroeconomic structure, 1960–1988”, in Atlas of Monterrey Ed. Garza VillarrealG, The State Government of Nuevo León, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, The Institute of Urban Studies, and College of Mexico, Monterrey, NL, Mexico, pp 103–109 (in Spanish).
21.
GarzaG, 1999, “Monterrey in the context of economic globalization in Mexico”, in Globalization in Nuevo León Ed. Gutiérrez GarzaE, Secretary of Extension and Culture, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, El Caballito Editions, Mexico, DF, Mexico, pp 19–50 (in Spanish).
22.
Garza VillarrealG, 1994, “Introduction”, in Atlas de Monterrey Ed. Garza VillarrealG., The State Government of Nuevo León, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, the Institute of Urban Studies, and College of Mexico, Monterrey, NL, Mexico, pp 9–24 (in Spanish).
23.
Gutiérrez GarzaE, 1999a, “Introduction”, in Globalization in Nuevo León Ed. Gutiérrez GarzaE, Secretary of Extension and Culture, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, El Caballito Editions, Mexico, DF, Mexico, pp 11–18 (in Spanish).
24.
Gutiérrez GarzaE, 1999b, “Light and shadows of the maquiladora industry”, in Globalization in Nuevo León Ed. Gutiérrez GarzaE, Secretary of Extension and Culture, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, El Caballito Editions, Mexico, DF, Mexico, pp 155–193 (in Spanish).
25.
GwynneR, 1999, “Globalization, neoliberalism and economic change in South America and Mexico”, in Latin America Transformed, Globalization and Modernity Eds GwynneRKayC (Edward Arnold, Sevenoaks, Kent) pp 68–97.
HarawayD, 1988, “Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism as a site of discourse on the privilege of partial perspective”Feminist Studies14575–599.
28.
HarveyD, 2003The New Imperialism (Oxford University Press, Oxford).
29.
Human Rights Watch, 1999Systemic Injustice, Torture, “Disappearance”, and Extrajudicial Execution in Mexico (Human Rights Watch, New York).
30.
IADB, 2002, “Plan Puebla-Panamá: report from the finance commission of the Plan Puebla-Panamá”Inter-American Development Bank, http://www.iadb.org/ppp/ (in Spanish).
31.
KatzC, 2001, “On the grounds of globalization: A Topography for feminist political engagement”Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society261213–1234.
32.
LarnerW, 2003, “Neoliberalism?”Environment and Planning D: Society and Space21509–512.
33.
McKinleyTAlarcónD, 1995, “The prevalence of rural poverty in Mexico”World Development231575–1585.
34.
MarchandMRunyanA, 2000, “Feminist sightings of global restructuring: Conceptualizations and reconceptualizations” in Gender and Global Restructuring: Sightings, Sites, and Resistances Eds MarchandMRunyanA (Routledge, London) pp 1–22.
35.
MasseyD, 1993, “Power-geometry and a progressive sense of place”, in Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures. Global Change Eds BirdJCurtisBPutnamTRobertsonGTicknerL (Routledge, London) pp 59–69.
36.
MoralesI, 1999, “NAFTA: The institutionalisation of economic openness and the configuration of Mexican geo-economic spaces”Third World Quarterly20971–993.
37.
Mora-TorresJ, 2001The Making of the Mexican Border, The State, Capitalism, and Society in Nuevo León 1848–1910 (University of Texas Press, Austin, TX).
38.
MurphyAStepickA, 1991Social Inequality in Oaxaca: A History of Resistance and Change (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA).
39.
NagarRLawsonVMcDowellLHansonS, 2002, “Locating globalization: Feminist (re)readings of the subjects and spaces of globalization”Economic Geography78257–284.
40.
Ortega PizarroF, 2000, “The regiomontano businessmen want it all”proceso number 1224, pp 28–33 (in Spanish).
41.
OteroG (Ed.), 1996Neoliberalism Revisited: Economic Restructuring and Mexico's Political Future (Westview Press, Boulder, CO).
42.
O'TooleG, 2003, “A new nationalism for a new era: The political ideology of Mexican neoliberalism”Bulletin of Latin American Research22269–290.
RuizR E, 1992Triumphs and Tragedy, A History of the Mexican people (W W Norton, New York).
46.
SanahujaJ A, 2000, “Trade, politics, and democratization: The 1997 global agreement between the European Union and Mexico”Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs4235–62.
47.
SnodgrassM, 2003Deference and Defiance in Monterrey (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
48.
SnyderR, 1999, “After the state withdraws: Neoliberalism and subnational authoritarian regimes in Mexico”, in Subnational Politics and Democratization in Mexico Eds CorneliusW AEisenstadtT AHindlyJ (Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California–San Diego, La Jolla, CA) pp 295–341.
49.
SnyderR, 2001Politics After Neoliberalism: Reregulation in Mexico (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
50.
StegerM, 2002Globalism: The New Market Ideology (Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, NJ).
51.
ThackerS, 1999, “NAFTA coalitions and the political viability of neoliberalism in Mexico”Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs4157–89.
52.
TorresB, 2000Mega-Project of the Isthmus: The Global Invasion (J C Printers, Mexico, DF, Mexico) (in Spanish).
