Acevedo-Rodrigo, Adriana (2004) Paying for progress : politics, ethnicity and schools in a Mexican Sierra, 1875-1930. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis studies the secular schools sustained by two rural municipalities of
majority Indian population in the Sierra Norte de Puebla in the periods before and
after the 1910 Revolution (1875-1930). In order to assess the role of schools in the
community and their contribution to nation-state building, it examines changes in
the tax system that affected educational provision, the mutual interaction between
schools, politics and inter-ethnic relations at the local level, and the methods used
and problems faced when teaching Indian children to read and write in Spanish.
The approach of social history is followed to address these questions,
seeking to strike a balance between the necessary recognition of the agency of
subordinate groups and the complexities of power relations that kept them
dominated. Taking a local perspective and using a variety of sources including
previously untapped municipal archives, this study both complements and
challenges the history of education and nation-state building in modem Mexico.
This thesis shows how, before 1910, municipal schools were successfully
sustained by locally-controlled taxes and how post-revolutionary policies,
contrary to the prevalent view in Mexican historiography, did not necessarily have
positive consequences for education. In this case they had a negative impact by
abolishing the tax system that had sustained schools, without providing an
effective alternative. In organising themselves to fund schools, communities
proved to be stronger than the post-revolutionary state.
Seeking to contribute to an incipient but growing history of Indian
education, this study analyses classroom practice, showing how speakers of Indian
languages were at a disadvantage in school. After the revolution, there was a
growing awareness of the specific needs of Indian children, but the methods
adopted did not necessarily result in more effective learning of Spanish. In fact,
the thesis argues that throughout the period of study schools contributed to non-
Indian domination by reproducing and reinforcing Indians' linguistic
disadvantage.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) L Education > LA History of education
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Education -- Political aspects -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 19th century, Education -- Political aspects -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 20th century, Ethnicity -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 19th century, Ethnicity -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 20th century, Schools -- Social aspects -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 19th century, Schools -- Social aspects -- Mexico -- Puebla (State) -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	September 2004
Dates:	Date Event September 2004 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Thomson, Guy P. C., 1949-
Sponsors:	Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico) (CONACYT); Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain) (AHRC)
Extent:	ii, 464 leaves
Language:	eng

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