Mexico’s Centennial Celebration of Independence in 1910

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Mexico City ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Department Stores ◽  
Mexican History ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
The Government

Porfirio Díaz’s liberal dictatorship used the centenary of independence to promote material progress, political stability, and the mestizo nation, all of which have remained important characteristics of the Mexican state. The centennial program lionized José Maria Morelos as a mestizo hero of independence and Benito Juárez as an architect of La Reforma and savior of the nation. Besides his remarkable political career, Juárez symbolized the cultural transformation of an Indian into a mestizo through education and secularization, a process advocated by Porfirian social engineers as essential to Mexico’s modernization. Porfirians also viewed Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage as a source of national pride and identity. For the Centenary, the government expanded the national ethnographic museum, reconstructed Teotihuacán, and sponsored the International Congress of Americanists where scholars presented papers on precolonial cultures. Porfirians’ appreciation for the pre-Columbians, however, did not extend to contemporary Indians, who were considered to be a drag on modernization and an embarrassment. Mexico’s modernization was symbolized by the transformation of Mexico City, the principal venue for the Centennial programs. The capital had been remodeled along Parisian lines with grand boulevards, roundabouts (glorietas), and green space. Electric tramways also connected neighborhoods with downtown, new fashionable suburbs displayed mansions with modern conveniences, and high-end department stores sold merchandise imported from Paris and London. During the Centenary, the Paseo de la Reforma and downtown avenues accommodated parades with patriotic and commercial themes, and central plazas provided space for industrial and cultural exhibitions similar to those found at international fairs. The Desfile Histórico depicted scenes from the conquest, colonial, and independence periods that outlined a liberal version of Mexican history. The program also featured openings of primary schools, a public university, an insane asylum, and water works, all indicative of Porfirian notions of modernization. The Centennial’s audience included Mexico City residents, visitors from the provinces, and delegates from the United States, Europe, and Asia. International and liberal newspapers characterized events as festive and patriotic, while the conservative press protested the lack of attention given to Agustín de Iturbide, the conservative independence leader, and to the Catholic Church. During the celebration, supporters of Francisco I. Madero, the reformer imprisoned by Díaz, organized two protests that interrupted events and foreshadowed troubles ahead. Following Madero’s escape from prison, his call to revolution was answered by peasants, provincial elites, and local strongmen whose movements forced Díaz to resign the following year. Revolutionary governments subsequently used Independence Day celebrations, including another centennial in 1921, to promote their political and cultural agendas, including anti-clericalism and indigenous culture as national culture.

Imagining Mexico in 1921: Visions of the Revolutionary State and Society in the Centennial Celebration in Mexico City

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Gonzales
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Sporting Events ◽  
Mexican History ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The Government

In September of 1921, the government of Alvaro Obregóón organized a lavish commemoration of the centennial of Agustíín de Iturbide's ouster of Spanish authority and the creation of Mexico. The occasion gave the administration the opportunity to present its image of the revolutionary state and society within the context of historical memory and public policy. The official program promoted economic and social programs rooted in nineteenth-century liberalism, as well as a new cultural vision that portrayed contemporary indigenous culture as integral to Mexican national identity. The occasion also gave conservatives the opportunity to present a counternarrative of Mexican history in newspaper articles and editorials that championed Iturbide, the Catholic Church, and Mexico's Spanish heritage. The organization of cultural and sporting events also showcased traditional and popular culture. En Septiembre de 1921, el gobierno de Alvaro Obregóón organizóó una celebracióón para conmemorar el centenario de la expulsióón de la monarquíía españñola por parte de Agustíín de Iturbide y del nacimiento del Estado mexicano. La ocasióón permitióó al réégimen presentar su imagen como Estado revolucionario dentro del contexto de la memoria históórica y políítica púública. La agenda oficial promovíía programas econóómicos y sociales basados en el liberalismo del siglo diecinueve, y en una políítica nueva que presentaba a las culturas indíígenas contemporááneas como parte integral de la identidad mexicana. La celebracióón tambiéén dio a los conservadores la oportunidad de presentar una interpretacióón de la historia mexicana que iba en contra de la oficial. ÉÉsta fue presentada en artíículos y editoriales de perióódicos que celebraban a Iturbide, la iglesia catóólica y la herencia españñola en Mééxico. La organizacióón de eventos culturales y deportivos tambiéén revelóó aspectos centrales de la cultura tradicional y popular.

Catholic Church Advocacy and the Affordable Care Act

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanine Kraybill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Affordable Care Act ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Health Care Policy ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
The United States ◽  
Universal Health Care ◽  
The Government ◽  
Universal Health

The American Catholic Church has a long history in health care. At the turn of 19th century, Catholic nuns began developing the United States’ first hospital and health care systems, amassing a high level of professionalization and expertise in the field. The bishops also have a well-established record advocating for healthcare, stemming back to 1919 with the Bishops’ Program for Social Reconstruction, which called for affordable and comprehensive care, particularly for the poor and vulnerable. Moving into the latter part of the 20th century, the bishops continued to push for health care reform. However, in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade (1973), the American bishops insisted that any reform or form of universal health care be consistent with the Church’s teaching against abortion, contraception, and euthanasia. The bishops were also adamant that health care policy respect religious liberty and freedom of conscience. In 1993, these concerns caused the bishops to pull their support for the Clinton Administration’s Health Security Act, since the bill covered abortion as a medical and pregnancy-related service. The debate over health care in the 1990s served as a precursor for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) opposition to the Obama Administration’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) contraception mandate. The ACA also highlighted a divide within the Church on health care among religious leaders. For example, progressive female religious leadership organizations, such as the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) and their affiliate NETWORK (a Catholic social justice lobby), took a different position than the bishops and supported the ACA, believing it had enough protections against federally funded abortion. Though some argue this divide lead to institutional scrutiny of the sisters affiliated with the LCWR and NETWORK, both the bishops and the nuns have held common ground on lobbying the government for affordable, comprehensive, and universal health care.

I. Organizing the Government for Participation in World Affairs

1944 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 913-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter H. C. Laves ◽  
Francis O. Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

Looking at the post-war period, it seems obvious that the government of the United States will give more attention to foreign affairs than it has in any comparable period of American history. How can the machinery for conducting foreign relations best be organized to meet these increasing responsibilities?The conduct of foreign relations in the modern world is no simple matter. Technical experts, intelligence systems, ability to negotiate, national political stability, a large and loyal staff of public servants—these are but some of the national requisites for effective participation in world affairs. The mobilization and organization of the best staff resources in the country, the negotiation of national policies, and then of international agreements, constitute a formidable task under any system of government.The conduct of foreign relations is, of course, easiest in a completely authoritarian state. It is made immeasurably more difficult by any division of authority. In most non-authoritarian governments, some division of authority has been found desirable, even at the expense of occasional awkwardness of procedure, because thereby the dangers of usurpation of power are minimized. The United States has gone farther than any democratic country in dividing responsibility in foreign affairs. Not only is there the usual distinction between legislative and executive authority, but the independence of the two branches has been so far underlined that the achievement of over-all government policies (as distinct from legislative and executive policies) is extremely difficult unless the party relationships are just right between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Pressures may prompt leftist backlash in Venezuela

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Popular Protest ◽  
Floating Exchange Rate ◽  
The Government ◽  
Domestic Fuel

Subject The outlook for political stability. Significance Arrests in an alleged coup plot, deepening tensions with the United States and street skirmishes marked the first anniversary of the February 12, 2014 riots. Nevertheless, there appears to be no recurrence of last year's upheavals, and the government has laid the ground for modest economic adjustments. The announcement of pending changes to the domestic fuel subsidy did not galvanise popular protest while the introduction of a free-floating exchange rate was well received by markets and bondholders. Impacts The muted response to renewed calls for regime change underscores negligible popular enthusiasm for violent exit solutions. US statements critical of the Maduro government further isolate Washington from regional sentiment. Although angered by recent US pronouncements, the Maduro government will persist with informal diplomatic overtures.

Japanese Trade Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina L. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Trade Friction ◽  
The Government

This chapter examines Japanese trade policy to explain how economic interests and domestic political institutions have supported the resilience of free trade policies in Japan. The mercantilist ideas and the reactive state model of past years have been replaced by strong support of free trade and Kantei diplomacy to lead in setting rules for the trade regime complex. Once dependent on the United States and mired in bilateral trade friction, Japan has emerged as an active supporter of engagement with China and the pursuit of free trade agreements, alongside continued commitment to the multilateral rules. Japanese-style trade adjustment and the slow path to liberalization served to balance economic efficiency with political stability as the government has supported narrow interests along with long-term trade strategies for economic growth.

The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna T. Haverty-Stacke
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vice President ◽  
The United States ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Historical Biography ◽  
Female Defendant ◽  
The Government ◽  
Feminist Movements ◽  
Smith Act ◽  
Second Wave

On December 8, 1941, Grace Holmes Carlson, the only female defendant among eighteen Trotskyists convicted under the Smith Act, was sentenced to sixteen months in federal prison for advocating the violent overthrow of the government. After serving a year in Alderson prison, Carlson resumed organizing for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and ran for vice president of the United States under its banner in 1948. Then, in 1952, she abruptly left the SWP and returned to the Catholic Church. With the support of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had educated her as a child, Carlson began a new life as a professor who now advocated for social justice as a Catholic Marxist. The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson: Catholic, Socialist, Feminist is a historical biography that examines Carlson’s story in the context of her times. Her experiences illuminate the workings of class identity within the context of various influences over the course of a lifespan. Her story contributes to recent historical scholarship exploring the importance of faith in workers’ lives and politics. And it uncovers both the possibilities and limitations for working-class and revolutionary Marxist women in the period between the first- and second-wave feminist movements. The long arc of Carlson’s life (1906–1992) reveals continuities in her political consciousness that transcended the shifts in her partisan commitments, most notably her lifelong dedication to challenging the root causes of social inequality. In that struggle Carlson proved herself to be a truly fierce woman.

Pro-Government Militias and Conflict

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine C. Carey ◽  
Neil J. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
The Government ◽  
Irregular Forces ◽  
Armed Actors

Pro-government militias are a prominent feature of civil wars. Governments in Colombia, Syria, and Sudan recruit irregular forces in their armed struggle against insurgents. The United States collaborated with Awakening groups to counter the insurgency in Iraq, just as colonizers used local armed groups to fight rebellions in their colonies. An emerging cross-disciplinary literature on pro-government non-state armed groups generates a variety of research questions for scholars interested in conflict, political violence, and political stability: Does the presence of such groups indicate a new type of conflict? What are the dynamics that drive governments to align with informal armed groups and that make armed groups choose to side with the government? Given the risks entailed in surrendering a monopoly of violence, is there a turning point in a conflict when governments enlist these groups? How successful are these groups? Why do governments use these non-state armed actors to shape foreign conflicts whether as insurgents or counterinsurgents abroad? Are these non-state armed actors always useful to governments or perhaps even an indicator for state failure? We examine the demand for and supply of pro-government armed groups and the legacies that shape their role in civil wars. The enduring pattern of collaboration between governments and these armed non-state actors challenges conventional theory and the idea of an evolutionary process of the modern state consolidating the means of violence. Research on these groups and their consequences began with case studies, and these continue to yield valuable insights. More recently, survey work and cross-national quantitative research contribute to our knowledge. This mix of methods is opening new lines of inquiry for research on insurgencies and the delivery of the core public good of effective security.

Pope's Mexico visit will highlight unresolved problems

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
The Government

Significance The visit will be his fourth to the Americas (following trips to Brazil in 2013, Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July 2015 and Cuba and the United States in September 2015) and will include stops in Mexico City, the neighbouring state of Mexico, and the states of Chihuahua, Chiapas, and Michoacan -- all of which suffer from serious problems of corruption, violent crime, poverty, inequality and human rights abuses. Impacts While the Pope is popular with most Mexicans, his visit is unlikely to reverse the country's trend towards secularism. Nevertheless, it may help to improve the Church's image, especially amongst indigenous groups, and slow the progress of Protestantism. Neither the government nor the opposition -- both tainted by corruption -- will derive any direct political benefit from the visit.

The Crisis of Cardenismo

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert L. Michaels
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Mexican History ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Urban Workers ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
Lazaro Cardenas ◽  
The Church

By April 1938, Lázaro Cárdenas had altered the course of modern Mexican history. The hacienda system had virtually disappeared to be replaced by smallholdings and by collective and semi-collective ejidos. The church-state quarrel, cause of so much bloodshed in the 1920s, had largely subsided; the Catholic Church had supported the government against the foreign oil companies, even seeking to help the government collect money to pay for the nationalization. Both the nation's agrarian and urban workers had formed powerful, well-organized unions ready and able to defend their members' newly won gains. Most important to subsequent developments, however, was the government's expropriation of the foreign oil companies in March of 1938. The oil companies had defied every twentieth-century Mexican government; nationalization temporarily united Mexicans as never before in the nation's history. Although these accomplishments, especially the land reform and oil expropriation, established Cárdenas's credentials as the most radical of modern Mexican presidents, his subsequent behaviour has made many, especially on the extreme left, question his sincerity.

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