Projects of State Control in 20th-Century Mexico

This panel analyzes how the Mexican state sought to exert control over the population within its borders through the use of forced conscription, incarceration, and cultural commodification. 20th Century Mexico began with a revolution to topple a dictatorship that resulted in the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) consolidating and maintaining power throughout the rest of the century. Tools of state control ranged from their traditional coercive forces, the military and police, but also included economic policies and state collaborations with private forces. Resistance from indigenous groups, workers, and students were met with a variety of repressive tactics that will be examined by this panel both for their historic and contemporary relevance.