Abstract
Three different historical issues are raised and discussed in this section. Barbara A. Tenenbaum critiques André Gunder Frank's explanation of Latin American history using Mexico (1821-1856) as her example. The basic thesis of this paper is that the post-independ ent "bourgeoisies" in Latin America were not cohesive groups but reflected the overall weakness of their republics. Ms. Tenenbaum teaches history at Vassar College.
Mary Kay Vaughan, who teaches history at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, treats Mexican primary school policy between 1890 and 1930 and argues that in this period, school programs were designed primarily to mold a labor force equipped with skills and attitudes appropriate to the modernization process and values and beliefs that legitimized bourgeois rule.
Finally, we present a study by Juan Felipe Leal of the development of the state in Mexico between 1867 and 1914. This article is a convincing application of a whole proble matique first formulated by Antonio Gramsci: the notion of hegemony, class fractions, and hegemonic power blocs. Juan Felipe Leal is a member of the Facultad de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales of the Universidad Autónoma de México.
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