Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico: Gender, Class, and Memory (The Mexican Experience) - Softcover

Book 10 of 34: The Mexican Experience

Alegre, Robert F.

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9780803244849: Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico: Gender, Class, and Memory (The Mexican Experience)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0803244843 ISBN 13: 9780803244849
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, 2014

Synopsis

Despite the Mexican government’s projected image of prosperity and modernity in the years following World War II, workers who felt that Mexico’s progress had come at their expense became increasingly discontented. From 1948 to 1958, unelected and often corrupt officials of STFRM, the railroad workers’ union, collaborated with the ruling Institutionalized Revolutionary Party (PRI) to freeze wages for the rank and file. In response, members of STFRM staged a series of labor strikes in 1958 and 1959 that inspired a nationwide working-class movement. The Mexican army crushed the last strike on March 26, 1959, and union members discovered that in the context of the Cold War, exercising their constitutional right to organize and strike appeared radical, even subversive.

Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico examines a pivotal moment in post–World War II Mexican history. The railroad movement reflected the contested process of postwar modernization, which began with workers demanding higher wages at the end of World War II and culminated in the railway strikes of the 1950s, a bold challenge to PRI rule. In addition, Robert F. Alegre gives the wives of the railroad workers a narrative place in this history by incorporating issues of gender identity in his analysis.

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About the Author

Robert F. Alegre is an assistant professor of history and affiliated faculty in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of New England. His work has been published in the Journal of Women’s History, Labour/Le Travail, and Reviews in History. Elena Poniatowska received a lifetime achievement award from the International Women’s Media Foundation and is the first woman to win Mexico’s National Journalism Prize.

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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Publication date
2014
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0803244843
ISBN 13 
9780803244849
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
270
Rating
  • 3.80 out of 5 stars
    5 ratings by Goodreads