In a convincing, neatly revised version of his dissertation, Gilbert M. Joseph contributes to a subject of major current import—regional aspects of the course, nature, and origins of the Mexican Revolution. Revolution from Without is another of the “new history” studies that emphasize economics and politics by focusing on small communities, special interest groups, and societal relationships. If many of the objectives of the Mexican Revolution have not been realized, or if the movement is multire-gional rather than unitary, a thorough examination of occurrences in a specific area such as Yucatán may reveal further explanation of why this is so. The author also proposes to use the subject matter and locale to test the validity of the neo-Marxist debate on international economic dependency theory and its corollary, the failure of a region to develop economically.
Joseph agrees with some Mexican intellectuals that the movement had to be brought in from without for Yucatán to experience revolution. The realities of the old regime for various reasons precluded local initiative. Henequen, the monocrop of Yucatán processed to make binder twine for the North American farmer, was produced in factorylike rural enterprises owned by an entrenched class, the captive of international manufacturers, who in collusion with local businessmen-brokers had a grip on the marketing and price of henequen before World War I. The workers, by that time a rural proletariat debased to slavelike conditions, could do little else but survive from day to day. It is Joseph’s thesis that no matter how much Yucatán may have needed a revolution, such a movement was bound to fail. “Must the constraints of the international economy, the national political structure, and the region’s social formation inevitably force compromises and alliances on revolutionaries that deflect or ultimately defeat the revolutionary drive?” (p. xv). The answer is a resounding “yes. ” The economy of Yucatán never recovered. Neo-Marxists should note, however, that export dependency was not the primary factor in economic decline, but one among several.
Revolution from Without is divided into three parts. The last two are well researched and contain new material from several sources in the United States and Mexico. The first part, on the old regime, presents some problems. Here Joseph relied heavily on published materials. Research on Yucatán before 1900 is spotty; some of it is outdated, and much is inconclusive. There is no detailed history of the rural estate from the encomienda to the henequen plantation. Recent ethnohistorical studies have yet to be published. Generalizations on hacendados and workers alike are perilous. Other matters as seen by this reviewer are minor. The use of Marxian terminology throughout seems arbitrary to the extreme. Although the term la casta divina was never exactly defined by its formulator, General Salvador Alvarado, the author of this book has an even greater problem of definition. Finally, a more thorough study of Felipe Carrillo Puerto’s family background would seem appropriate. Though the younger son of a large family of modest means, Carrillo counted many hacendados among his relatives and friends. Many estate owners felt that the uncontrolled violence meted out against them by Carrillo and his followers were attacks by the revolutionary on those of his own kind. This may have been a factor in Carrillo’s execution.
