Violence, Coercion, and State-Making in Twentieth-Century Mexico : The Other Half of the Centaur

Mexico is currently undergoing a crisis of violence and insecurity that poses serious threats to democratic transition and rule of law. This is the first book to put these developments in the context of post-revolutionary state-making in Mexico and to show that violence in Mexico is not the result of state failure, but of state-making. While most accounts of politics and the state in recent decades have emphasized processes of transition, institutional conflict resolution, and neo-liberal reform, this volume lays out the increasingly important role of violence and coercion by a range of state and non-state armed actors. Moreover, by going beyond the immediate concerns of contemporary Mexico, this volume pushes us to rethink longterm processes of state-making and recast influential interpretations of the so-called golden years of PRI rule. __Violence, Coercion, and State-Making in Twentieth-Century Mexico__ demonstrates that received wisdom has long prevented the concerted and systematic study of violence and coercion in state-making, not only during the last decades, but throughout the post-revolutionary period. The Mexican state was built much more on violence and coercion than has been acknowledged—until now. Zones of state-making : violence, coercion, and hegemony in twentieth-century Mexico / Wil G. Pansters States, borders, and violence : lessons from the U.S.-Mexican experience / David A. Shirk Policing and regime transition : from postauthoritarianism to populism to neoliberalism / Diane E. Davis Who killed Crispín Aguilar? : violence and order in the postrevolutionary countryside / Paul Gillingham Narco-violence and the State in modern Mexico / Alan Knight States of violence : state-crime relations in Mexico / Mónica Serrano Policing new illegalities : piracy, raids, and madrinas / José Carlos G. Aguiar The rise of gangsterism and charrismo : labor violence and the postrevolutionary Mexican state / Marcos Aguila and Jeffrey Bortz Political practice, everyday political violence, and electoral processes during the neoliberal period in Mexico / Kathy Powell Violence and reconstitution in Mexican indigenous communities / John Gledhill New violence, insecurity, and the State : comparative reflections on Latin America and Mexico / Kees Koonings. Mexico is currently undergoing a crisis of violence and insecurity that poses serious threats to democratic transition and rule of law. This book puts these developments in the context of post-revolutionary state-making in Mexico and shows that violence in the country is not the result of state failure, but of state-making. While most accounts of politics and the state in recent decades have emphasized processes of transition, institutional conflict resolution, and neo-liberal reform, this book lays out the increasingly important role of violence and coercion by a range of state and non-state armed actors