State Formation in the Liberal Era

Ben Fallaw is a professor of Latin American studies at Colby College. He is the author or editor of five books, including CÁrdenas Compromised: The Failure of Reform in YucatÁn and Religion and State Formation in Postrevolutionary Mexico. David Nugent is a professor of anthropology at Emory University. He is the author or editor of five books, including The Encrypted State: Delusion and Displacement in Northern Peru.

“This is a welcome addition to the literature on state and nation formation. It compares and contrasts how two similarly configured countries, Peru and Mexico, tried various government experiments over the course of a century to form national communities by extending citizenship to the excluded masses while integrating their national economies into the globalizing economy. The result is a detailed, nuanced, and original collection by a group of top-drawer scholars that will advance our understanding of early nation building in Latin America.”—Peter Klarén, author of Peru: Society and Nationhood in the Andes “State Formation in the Liberal Era is an exceptionally nuanced exploration of the uneven nature of nation making and economic development in Peru and Mexico from 1850 to 1950. It is a compelling account that transforms our understanding of postcolonial Latin America—of how competing and often contradictory forces simultaneously produced and tore new nations apart.”—Steve Striffler, author of In the Shadows of State and Capital: United Fruit, Popular Struggle, and Agrarian Restructuring in Ecuador, 1900–1995 “The book is…recommendable as a concise yet detailed overview of the history of Mexico and Peru from 1850-1950, and the section introductions would serve well for short background readings in university courses.”—Andrea Moerer, The Middle Ground Journal