The Making of the Mexican Border: The State Capitalism and Society in Nuevo Len 1848-1910

About this book

The issues that dominate U.S.-Mexico border relations todayintegration of economies policing of boundaries and the flow of workers from south to north and of capital from north to southare not recent developments. In this insightful history of the state of Nuevo Len Juan Mora-Torres explores how these processes transformed northern Mexico into a region with distinct economic political social and cultural features that set it apart from the interior of Mexico. Mora-Torres argues that the years between the establishment of the U.S.-Mexico boundary in 1848 and the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 constitute a critical period in Mexican history. The processes of state-building emergent capitalism and growing linkages to the United States transformed localities and identities and shaped class formations and struggles in Nuevo Len. Monterrey emerged as the leading industrial center and home of the most powerful business elite while the countryside deteriorated economically politically and demographically. By 1910 Mora-Torres concludes the border states had already assumed much of their modern character: an advanced capitalist economy some of Mexicos most powerful business groups and a labor market dependent on massive migrations from central Mexico.