Casi Nada: A Study of Agrarian Reform in the Homeland of Cardenismo (Studies on Culture And Society)

In this book, John Gledhill recounts for us the surprising history of a social revolution carried out "from above." In the enormous hacienda of Guaracha, situated in the northwest of the State of Michoacán, only a small group of rebels sympathized with the agrarian ideals of the Mexican Revolution. Faced with the indifference of the majority of the peasants and workers, the owner of the hacienda extrerminated the rebels. Later, the revoutionary government, perceived as abusive, anti-clerical and jacobean, aroused the mistrust and hostility of the people of Guaracha. Thus, the redistribution of land promoted and effectuated Lázaro Cárdenasùthe, great craftsman of Mexican agrarianis, to achieve greater political control over these discontented peasants. But, as Gledhill demonstrates exhaustively, it did not serve to liberate them from poverty, nor to convert them into effective supporters of the regime.