Sowing the Seeds of Neo-Imperialism: The Rockefeller Foundation's Yellow Fever Campaign in Mexico

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Solórzano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Rockefeller Foundation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
The People ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Southern Border ◽  
By Products

The Rockefeller Foundation's campaign against yellow fever in Mexico sought to advance the economic and political interests of U.S. capitalism. The campaign was implemented at a time of strong anti-American sentiments on the part of the Mexican people. With no diplomatic relationships between Mexico and the United States, the Rockefeller Foundation presented its campaign as an international commitment. Thus, Foundation doctors became the most salient U.S. diplomats. At the same time they made sure that the Mexican yellow fever would not spread to the United States through the southern border. The by-products of the campaign went beyond the political arena. Special techniques to combat the vectors allowed the Rockefeller Foundation's brigades to change the anti-American sentiments of the people. When the campaign ended, the Foundation had already set in place the foundation for the modern Mexican health care system. Benefits from the campaign also accrued to President Obregón, who used the campaign to strengthen his position of power. Mexican doctors adopting a pro-American attitude also allied with the Rockefeller Foundation to gain reputation and power within the emerging Mexican State.

Specters of Belonging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián Félix
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mexican Migrants ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
Mexican Migrant ◽  
Transnational Citizenship

In the context of research on the “thickening” of borders, Specters of Belonging raises the related question: How does transnational citizenship thicken across the political life cycle of Mexican migrants? In addressing this question, this book resembles what any good migration corrido (ballad) does—narrate the thickening of transnational citizenship from beginning, middle, to end. Specifically, Specters of Belonging traces Mexican migrant transnationalism across the migrant political life cycle, beginning with the “political baptism” (i.e., naturalization in the United States) and ending with repatriation to México after death. In doing so, the book illustrates how Mexican migrants enunciate, enact, and embody transnational citizenship in constant dialectical contestation with the state and institutions of citizenship on both sides of the U.S.-México border. Drawing on political ethnographies of citizenship classrooms, the first chapter examines how Mexican migrants enunciate transnational citizenship as they navigate the naturalization process in the United States and grapple with the contradictions of U.S. citizenship and its script of singular political loyalty. The middle chapter deploys transnational ethnography to analyze how Mexican migrants enact transnational citizenship within the clientelistic orbit of the Mexican state, focusing on a group of returned migrant politicians and transnational activists. Last, the final chapter turns to how Mexican migrants embody transnational citizenship by tracing the cross-border practice of repatriating the bodies of deceased Mexican migrants from the United States to their communities of origin in rural México.

Populism and Liberal Democracy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takis S. Pappas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comprehensive Theory ◽  
The People ◽  
Original Definition ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
Definition Of

Based on an original definition of modern populism as “democratic illiberalism” and many years of meticulous research, Takis Pappas marshals extraordinary empirical evidence from Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, the United States, Spain, and Brazil to develop a comprehensive theory about populism. He addresses all key issues in the debate about populism and answers significant questions of great relevance for today’s liberal democracy, including: • What is modern populism and how can it be differentiated from comparable phenomena like nativism and autocracy? • Where in Latin America has populism become most successful? Where in Europe did it emerge first? Why did its rise to power in the United States come so late? • Is Trump a populist and, if so, could he be compared best with Venezuela’s Chávez, France’s Le Pens, or Turkey’s Erdoğan? • Why has populism thrived in post-authoritarian Greece but not in Spain? And why in Argentina and not in Brazil? • Can populism ever succeed without a charismatic leader? If not, what does leadership tell us about how to challenge populism? • Who are “the people” who vote for populist parties, how are these “made” into a group, and what is in their minds? • Is there a “populist blueprint” that all populists use when in power? And what are the long-term consequences of populist rule? • What does the expansion, and possibly solidification, of populism mean for the very nature and future of contemporary democracy? Populism and Liberal Democracy will change the ways the reader understands populism and imagines the prospects of liberal democracy.

scholarly journals Vigilantes and the State: Understanding Violence through a Security Assemblages Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Rebecca Tapscott
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Political Dissent ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Comparative Advantages ◽  
Southern Border ◽  
Zero Sum ◽  
Lower Capacity

The notion that states pursue a monopoly over the use of force rings increasingly hollow. From vigilantes that patrol the United States’ southern border, to thugs for hire in China, states are characterized by non-state violent actors. These trends are more pronounced in comparatively lower-capacity states. Employing the concept of “security assemblages,” I propose that it is crucial to consider historically embedded relations among violent actors and institutions in order to understand their socio-political role and implications for state authority. This approach offers three insights: first, in low-capacity states, violence is not zero-sum. Rather, it is assembled among diverse actors, which each have historically embedded comparative advantages. Second, therefore, state efforts to monopolize violence should be taken as an empirical question rather than an assumption grounding analysis. Third, relationships between violent actors occur in thick institutional environments, meaning that violent actors, including state actors and institutions, often must act under significant constraints. To illustrate these points, I conduct a mixed-methods nested study of vigilantes in Uganda, finding that vigilantes are more common where other authorities are present, and are more helpful when other authorities are also more helpful. Focusing on dynamics between vigilantes and police, I pinpoint their historically distinct roles: the police were established as a colonial-era institution to suppress political dissent, while vigilantes have long been socially embedded actors tasked with everyday security provision. Thus, in this case, police and vigilantes are not substitutes; instead they play distinct and complementary roles.

The yellow fever 17D vaccine and risk of malignant melanoma in the United States military

Vaccine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (30) ◽  
pp. 4476-4479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Hodges-Vazquez ◽  
James P. Wilson ◽  
Hayley Hughes ◽  
Patrick Garman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Malignant Melanoma ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Military

Democracy and Excellence: Concord or Conflict?

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 535-537
Author(s):  
Laura Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
The People ◽  
Democratic Societies ◽  
The Relationship

Democracy and Excellence: Concord or Conflict?, Joseph Romance and Neil Reimer, eds., Westport CN: Praeger, 2005, 166, pp. xiv.This volume is the product of a question, asked by Neal Reimer, about the relationship between democracy and excellence. Reimer provides background for this relationship in the first chapter, noting that it can be framed as government by the people versus standards of the good, true and beautiful. Conflict can arise between the two ideas because democracy prioritizes equality of citizens—but excellence depends upon the recognition of differentiating merit. While democracy provides citizens freedom from a limiting class structure, the lack of structure can make citizens indifferent to pursuing a noble vision of the state. Reimer argues, however, that there is a fundamental harmony between democracy and excellence and that examples of excellence in democratic societies (such as the United States) are many. It is possible and likely that democratic societies will attain excellence in practice.

Mezcal: When Culture and Consumption Collide

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 120-128
Author(s):  
Tara Ceranic Salinas ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Cultural Appropriation ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Mexican State

Mezcal is a spirit distilled from the heart of the agave plant. It has been produced via traditional methods in Mexico for centuries, but recently has found popularity in the United States and other countries. The rise in demand for this artisanal product could greatly benefit the eight states in which it is legally distilled with an influx of capital from tourism and export. However, with this popularity comes outside influence and the potential for unfair business practices and cultural appropriation. This case provides a general overview of mezcal and the Mexican state of Oaxaca in which it is produced. Discussion questions are presented as well as a brief teaching note.

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