Thread of Blood: Colonialism, Revolution, and Gender on Mexico's Northern Frontier

TitleThread of Blood: Colonialism, Revolution, and Gender on Mexico's Northern Frontier
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication1995
AuthorsAlonso, Ana María
Number of Pages314
PublisherUniversity of Arizona Press
CityTucson, AZ
Abstract

The author demonstrates that a distinct kind of frontier serrano society was generated in Namiquipa between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. In exchange for keeping the Apaches at bay, colonists were provided with arms and land grants. At the same time, they developed a gendered sense of ethnic identity that equated honor with land, autonomy, and a kind of masculinity that distinguished the "civilized" colonist from the "barbarous" Indian... After the defeat of the Apaches, and with increased state control during the last decades of the Porfiriato, the serranos on the frontier were transformed from bulwarks of order to victims of progress. The expansion of capitalism and the manipulation of local political office by men no longer accountable to communal norms eroded the legitimacy of both powerholders and the central state. In response, serranos constructed an ideology of history based on past notions of masculine honor and autonomy. This ideology motivated their confrontations with the Mexican state during the 1890s and also served as the force behind their mobilization in the 1910 revolution.

URLhttps://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1mgmcf9
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32854469

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