Patterns of Contention in American History

This collection of English and Spanish articles brings together the latest scholarship on Mexican unrest by researchers in both the United States and Mexico. The contributors use the economic, social and cultural situations in Mexico throughout its history to explain the varied and complex nature of rebellions and other upheavals. The essays are organised in three sections: part one, "The Colonial Era", includes articles interpreting rebellions of the 17th and 18th centuries as sophisticated attempts to redress sociopolitical imbalances; part two, "The National Period", examines how national politics became a new source of conflict after independence - essays in this section include discussions of the doomed 1832 rebellion, in which a group of Mexico City politicians failed to establish a constitutional government, and the struggle among the Church, army, states and wealthiest class to dominate the country; part three, "Interpreting Rebellions", presents broader analyses of contention, looking in particular at the role of bandits and religious beliefs in rebellions. The topics covered in this volume should be of interest to scholars of Mexican history and Latin America in general.
The combining of social and political history to illuminate the causes of unrest should be welcomed by historians of virtually any region.