The persistent revolution: history, nationalism and neoliberalism in Mexico from the 1982 debt crisis to the 2010 bicentenary of independence

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the School of Historical and European Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

This thesis examines how Mexican revolutionary nationalist discourse was invoked during the country’s transition from a hegemonic corporatist state with an economic nationalist development model to a multiparty political system with a neoliberal development model. The timeframe of the study is from the 1982 debt crisis to the bicentenary of independence and centenary of the Mexican Revolution in 2010. I argue that revolutionary nationalism emerges during tie period as not simply a “top-down” tool of political manipulation, but a multidirectional framework through which elite and popular actors communicated and negotiated with one another. Mexico’s revolutionary nationalism was a discourse forged by state and nation-builders in negotiation with local communities following the Mexican Revolution. This nationalist framework played a central role in not only promoting national unity under the state, but defining what constituted legitimate citizenship rights. This thesis for the first time applies insights gained from a “post-revisionist” school of Mexican history focussed on the state and nation-building projects of the 1920s and 1930s to the sweep of post-1982 Mexican history Revolutionary nationalism’s continued role of in shaping hegemonic ideas of politics and legitimate rights in Mexico period is shown by examining how a diverse array of actors continued to negotiate access to rights and resources in reference to the great heroes and movements of the revolutionary nationalist framework. In this thesis, I undertake a more integrated examination than has previously been attempted of Mexican nationalism alongside the institutional, economic and social transformations of the period. I argue that such an examination avoids both material and cultural determinism by acknowledging how both culture and material calculations of self-interest are interrelated and interact in political decision making. This thesis further contributes a unique and critical perspective to the literature on Mexico’s “transition to democracy” that explores how major political, economic and social upheavals were legitimised and resisted during a moment of crisis and transition.