San José de Gracia: Mexican Village in Transition / Edition 1

by Luis González, John Upton

Overview

The village of San José de Gracia is not mentioned in any history of Mexico, nor is it referred to in any of the annals of the state of Michoacán. It is not to be found at all on most maps, and almost none show its correct location. It is an unknown point in space, in time, and in the consciousness of the Mexican republic.

In Luis González's classic history of the world of San José, he turns his attention in every direction: toward what is lasting and what is ephemeral, everyday and unusual, material and spiritual. The story is, to some extent, the story of rural life anywhere, in any age; to some extent it is peculiar to the world of the peasant all through Mexico's history; and to some extent it can be said to be true only of San José.

The history of San José is also the history of the village as victim of the megalopolis, not only in Mexico but everywhere in our time. With the small community will be lost traditions and a sense of continuity that may prove irreplaceable and essential to human wellbeing. While Luis González does not suggest that he knows what the fate of San José will be, one feels that he knows all too well, and that his questions are only "How?" and "How soon?"

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292775718
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	01/01/1974
Series:	Texas Pan American Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	406
Sales rank:	981,435
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.50(d)

Table of Contents

• Abbreviations
• Prologue.
  • A Delimitation and Justification of the Subject
  • Some Remarks on Method
  • Self-Defense, Self-Criticism, and Aims
  • Note concerning the Second Edition
• Three Beginnings
  • The Mountain Landscape
  • An Early History of Construction and Destruction
  • A Society of Cowboys
• Part One. Half a Century in Search of Communion
  • 1.The Ranchos (1861-1882)
    • The Subdivision and Sale of the Cojumatlán Hacienda
    • Economics of the Ranchos
    • Ranching Society
    • Religion, Games, and Insecurity
  • 2.The Town (1883-1900)
    • The Generation of the Snowstorm
    • The Founding of San José de Gracia
    • The Great Fright of 1900
  • 3. The Ranchos and the Town (1901-1910)
    • The Business World and Social Life
    • Amusements and Religious Dutiesin Padre Othón's Small World
    • Winds from the Outside World
    • All in All, Half a Century of Peaceful and Orderly Progress
• Part Two. Thirty Years of Suffering
  • 4. The Mexican Revolution (1910-1924)
    • The Madero Revolution
    • The Agents of Revolution in San José
    • The Puntada Gang, José Inés Chivez Garcia, and the Spanish Influenza
    • Gathering Clouds
  • 5. The Cristero Revolution (1925-1932)
    • A Few Months Before
    • The Uprising
    • After Tizapin
    • San José de Gracia Lifts Its Head Again
  • 6. The Agrarian Revolution (1933-1943)
    • The Petitioners, the Petitioned, and the Apportioners of Land
    • The Origin of Nine Ejidos
    • Padre Federico Returns and President Cárdenas Comes to Call
    • Incipit Vita Nova
    • Thirty Years of Turmoil: Statistics and Concepts
• Part Three. Twenty-five Years of Change
  • 7. Withdrawal and Expansion (1943-1956)
    • At the Mercy of the Outside World
    • The Symptoms of Transformation
    • Seasonal Migration to the United States
    • The Permanent Move to Mexico City
  • 8. From Yesterday to Today (1957-1967)
    • Priority of the Economic Factor
    • Health, Water, Electricity, Education, Telephones, and Television
    • Two Hundred Words More about Change
    • New Aspects of the Landscape and the Town
  • 9. The Upper Crust
    • The Rich and the Middle-Income Group
    • Politics from the Top Down, and Vice Versa
    • Religion and Some of Its Environs
    • Pleasurable Occasions and a Digression concerning Happiness
  • 10. The Underdogs
    • Small Landowners and Men Who Work for Other Men
    • The Woman Produces Children, Meals, and Art
    • Today Many Youngsters Go to School
    • Human Pests and Other Sources of Annoyance
• Three Conclusions
  • Timeless Things
  • Sayings of Yesterday and Today
  • A Small Epilogue and a Postscript
• Glossary
• Works Cited