Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account

This paper analyses the agrarian *hacienda* as the chief defining political-economic institution that shaped class composition and state formation of colonial and early postcolonial Mexico. Following the insightful theoretical framework of political Marxism, this article reviews the evolution of Me...

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Main Author: Armando Van Rankin-Anaya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora 2022-10-01
Series:América Latina en la Historia Económica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://alhe.mora.edu.mx/index.php/ALHE/article/view/1301
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author Armando Van Rankin-Anaya
author_facet Armando Van Rankin-Anaya
author_sort Armando Van Rankin-Anaya
collection DOAJ
description This paper analyses the agrarian *hacienda* as the chief defining political-economic institution that shaped class composition and state formation of colonial and early postcolonial Mexico. Following the insightful theoretical framework of political Marxism, this article reviews the evolution of Mexican social property relations from the colonization (in the 16th century) to independence (in the 19th century) employing a novel methodology. Due to the highly historicist-oriented perspective of this neo-Marxist wisdom –and its concrete notion of capitalism as a property regime politically constructed– this paper argues that the agrarian hacienda was substantially precapitalist. This reexamination, in turn, challenges structural and pancapitalist accounts within neo-Marxist thought such as Wallerstein’s world-system theory that argues conversely: that European colonialism in the Americas was capitalist. This work aims to expand the application of political Marxism literature to the Latin American context.
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spelling doaj.art-db07bcd426e6405da998577722abe8922024-11-02T18:35:22ZengInstituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis MoraAmérica Latina en la Historia Económica1405-22532007-34962022-10-0130110.18232/20073496.1301Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist accountArmando Van Rankin-Anaya0University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom. This paper analyses the agrarian *hacienda* as the chief defining political-economic institution that shaped class composition and state formation of colonial and early postcolonial Mexico. Following the insightful theoretical framework of political Marxism, this article reviews the evolution of Mexican social property relations from the colonization (in the 16th century) to independence (in the 19th century) employing a novel methodology. Due to the highly historicist-oriented perspective of this neo-Marxist wisdom –and its concrete notion of capitalism as a property regime politically constructed– this paper argues that the agrarian hacienda was substantially precapitalist. This reexamination, in turn, challenges structural and pancapitalist accounts within neo-Marxist thought such as Wallerstein’s world-system theory that argues conversely: that European colonialism in the Americas was capitalist. This work aims to expand the application of political Marxism literature to the Latin American context. http://alhe.mora.edu.mx/index.php/ALHE/article/view/1301political Marxismhistorical sociologycolonial state-formationpolitical economyhistoricism
spellingShingle Armando Van Rankin-Anaya
Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
América Latina en la Historia Económica
political Marxism
historical sociology
colonial state-formation
political economy
historicism
title Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
title_full Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
title_fullStr Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
title_full_unstemmed Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
title_short Mexico's colonial and early postcolonial state-formation: A political-Marxist account
title_sort mexico s colonial and early postcolonial state formation a political marxist account
topic political Marxism
historical sociology
colonial state-formation
political economy
historicism
url http://alhe.mora.edu.mx/index.php/ALHE/article/view/1301
work_keys_str_mv AT armandovanrankinanaya mexicoscolonialandearlypostcolonialstateformationapoliticalmarxistaccount