- Alfredo Avila is Researcher and Professor of History at the National University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autón... moreAlfredo Avila is Researcher and Professor of History at the National University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico UNAM), where he earned his B.A. and Ph.D. Among other distinctions, won the Maus Prize, the Francisco Xavier Clavijero Award from the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the Alfonso Caso Medal for his graduate studies, the prize of the Mexican Committee of Historical Sciences, the National University Distinction for Young Scholars, the Richard Greenleaf fellowship, and the Eulalio Ferrer Grant. He has taught at the National School of Professional Studies Acatlán (Mexico), the Institute of History of the National Research Council (Spain), the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (Mexico), Georgetown University (USA), Buenos Aires University (Argentina), the University of São Paulo (Brazil), El Colegio de México, and the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at UNAM. Specialist in the history of political culture and thought in early nineteenth-century Mexico, has published nine books and several journal articles and contributions for collective books. He is the president of the Mexican Committee of Historical Sciences.edit
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“En nombre de la nación” fue una frase empleada por Melchor de Talamantes para criticar a quienes, como el Ayuntamiento de la ciudad de México, decían hablar en nombre de todo el reino. Este libro narra el desarrollo de la soberanía... more
“En nombre de la nación” fue una frase empleada por Melchor de Talamantes para criticar a quienes, como el Ayuntamiento de la ciudad de México, decían hablar en nombre de todo el reino. Este libro narra el desarrollo de la soberanía nacional y sus representantes, y da cuenta de los complejos procesos por los que tuvo que pasar la nación inventada en los últimos años de régimen virreinal y los primeros del México independiente.Hecho bajo la impronta de Francois-Xavier Guerra, terminé alejándome de su visión dicotómica Tradición/Modernidad. La hipótesis más importante que sostiene es que, durante el periodo aludido, no hubo una sola manera de representar la sociedad y que, si nos olvidamos de interpretaciones progresistas y teleológicas, ninguna era ni más ni menos legítima.
Concluí la parte central del libro en 1998, aunque no apareció sino en 2002, por algunos contratiempos que no pueden atribuirse ni al Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas ni a la Editorial Taurus. Ha recibido la atención de algunos reseñistas y, lo sé por testimonios personales, ha tenido impacto en especial entre estudiantes y algunos colegas. También ha sido objeto de varias críticas, en particular desde enfoques positivistas que no admiten que la historia puede ayudarnos a plantear algunas de cuestiones fundamentales de la filosofía política. Hay algunas erratas que me gustaría corregir en algún momento, algunas realmente graves. Agradezco a dos queridos amigos haberme llamado la atención en 2006 por una referencia errónea. En la página 94 afirmé que según el Diario de México de 4 de julio de 1810, no hubo sorteo en Puebla para la elección de Antonio Pérez Martínez a las Cortes de Cádiz. La verdad es que, bien al contrario, el Diario afirma que sí hubo elección, pero la forma en que anoté la referencia en una tarjeta (todavía no usaba computadora para tomar referencias) era demasiado confusa. En nombre de la nación plantea temas sobre los que de manera constante regreso, aunque no haya regresado sobre el mismo libro.
Concluí la parte central del libro en 1998, aunque no apareció sino en 2002, por algunos contratiempos que no pueden atribuirse ni al Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas ni a la Editorial Taurus. Ha recibido la atención de algunos reseñistas y, lo sé por testimonios personales, ha tenido impacto en especial entre estudiantes y algunos colegas. También ha sido objeto de varias críticas, en particular desde enfoques positivistas que no admiten que la historia puede ayudarnos a plantear algunas de cuestiones fundamentales de la filosofía política. Hay algunas erratas que me gustaría corregir en algún momento, algunas realmente graves. Agradezco a dos queridos amigos haberme llamado la atención en 2006 por una referencia errónea. En la página 94 afirmé que según el Diario de México de 4 de julio de 1810, no hubo sorteo en Puebla para la elección de Antonio Pérez Martínez a las Cortes de Cádiz. La verdad es que, bien al contrario, el Diario afirma que sí hubo elección, pero la forma en que anoté la referencia en una tarjeta (todavía no usaba computadora para tomar referencias) era demasiado confusa. En nombre de la nación plantea temas sobre los que de manera constante regreso, aunque no haya regresado sobre el mismo libro.
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Ed. by A. Ávila, V. Guedea, A. Ibarra
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The subject of this volume is the secret actions carried out by various groups of individuals to establish the republic in Mexico, once it obtained its independence from Spain. This book deals with the various conspiracies to destroy the... more
The subject of this volume is the secret actions carried out by various groups of individuals to establish the republic in Mexico, once it obtained its independence from Spain. This book deals with the various conspiracies to destroy the Mexican empire.
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Generally, political parties have a bad press. In Mexico, as elsewhere, have been accused of monopolizing political participation and of the exclusion of citizens. However, since the nineteenth century, the Mexican political thinking... more
Generally, political parties have a bad press. In Mexico, as elsewhere, have been accused of monopolizing political participation and of the exclusion of citizens. However, since the nineteenth century, the Mexican political thinking expressed proposals that recognized the virtues of conducting civic participation through political parties. Echoes of those discussions still be heard at the beginning of the century, so this book is relevant not only to specialized audiences, but mainly for the citizen wondering if the parties are a means through which their demands are served or an impediment to have its voice heard.
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This is not an abstract. Some people could say that this is not a typical article made by a historian. They would be right. This is not a story, it is an answer. Therefore, it may not become one of my works with more quotes, but it shows... more
This is not an abstract.
Some people could say that this is not a typical article made by a historian. They would be right. This is not a story, it is an answer. Therefore, it may not become one of my works with more quotes, but it shows my concerns. For me, the History resolves problems. Here's one: How to establish a government? According to David Hume nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few. I think Servando Teresa de Mier answered correctly, but the Mexican case shows that this process is never easy."
Some people could say that this is not a typical article made by a historian. They would be right. This is not a story, it is an answer. Therefore, it may not become one of my works with more quotes, but it shows my concerns. For me, the History resolves problems. Here's one: How to establish a government? According to David Hume nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few. I think Servando Teresa de Mier answered correctly, but the Mexican case shows that this process is never easy."
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After the fall of the Mexican monarchy in 1823, some partisans of the dethroned emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, used the new republican institutions and the popular xenophobia to constitute the «Popular Party». This Party has been accused... more
After the fall of the Mexican monarchy in 1823, some partisans of the dethroned emperor, Agustín de Iturbide, used the new republican institutions and the popular xenophobia to constitute the «Popular Party». This Party has been accused by many historians of having egoistic goals. However, it cannot be denied that it transformed the political culture of large sectors of Mexican society. The political pro-gram of the Popular Party, known as «American system», supported federalism, the republican government and the protection of national producers. The masonic lodges of the rite of York (from which the term «yorkinos» comes), the popular mobilizations, and the electoral campaigns built a new sociability that allowed the Popular Party to emerge as the most important political forcé in the 1820s.
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Half a century after it was first published, Luis Villoro's La revolución de independencia continues to be widely read. This article attemprs to assess the relevance of this work, beyond the assertations surpassed by recent monographs. It... more
Half a century after it was first published, Luis Villoro's La revolución de independencia continues to be widely read. This article attemprs to assess the relevance of this work, beyond the assertations surpassed by recent monographs. It considers that Villoro's book pioneered many interpretations that are now largely accepted by specialists in the area and that to date, he is the only person to have lent meaning to the ideological process of the independence revolution. It ends by suggesting a reappraisal of the role of conceptions in temporality, highlighted by Villoro as a starting point for future intellectual history research on the political thought of the early decades of rhe Mexican 19th century.
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Against the revisionist historiography but without appealing to nationalist interpretations, this paper argues that the insurrection of 1810 in New Spain was caused by the regional socioeconomic conditions as well as the perception that... more
Against the revisionist historiography but without appealing to nationalist interpretations, this paper argues that the insurrection of 1810 in New Spain was caused by the regional socioeconomic conditions as well as the perception that the kingdom was about to surrender to France. Besides, people believed that the viceroyal government was oppressive. The offer of the Regencia of sending representatives to the Cádiz Cortes was provinces. However, due to the fact that equality was not granted to Americans in the Spanish representative government, many of them considered that they might take another path: to establish an American government.
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This article analyzes, from the perspective of the intelectual history, the apparently contradictory thinking of Manuel de la Bárcena, parish priest of the cathedral of Valladolid who first supported the absolute Spanish monarchy and... more
This article analyzes, from the perspective of the intelectual history, the apparently contradictory thinking of Manuel de la Bárcena, parish priest of the cathedral of Valladolid who first supported the absolute Spanish monarchy and later, the emancipation of New Spain. It explains the various opinions of De la Bárcena (conditioned to his wish to maintain the integrity of the Catholic Church) were blended with different rhetorical elements from his speach, as he conciliates his principles with his ecclesiastical interests.
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En su texto, Alfredo Ávila critica la historiografía militante, "dispuesta a enfrentarse a las versiones nacionalistas tradicionales de los países latinoamericanos que desdeñaban la herencia española, pero también a cualquier estudio que... more
En su texto, Alfredo Ávila critica la historiografía militante, "dispuesta a enfrentarse a las versiones nacionalistas tradicionales de los países latinoamericanos que desdeñaban la herencia española, pero también a cualquier estudio que se atreva a empañar el liberalismo hispano por medio del análisis crítico de sus características". Si por muchos años predominó una leyenda negra sobre la herencia hispánica, ahora parecería que algunos autores están empeñados en establecer la imagen contraria. Sin embargo, las leyendas, cualquiera que sea su signo, hacen violencia al registro histórico.
José Antonio Aguilar Rivera, "Presentación: La Nueva Historia Política, nuevas miradas a nuevos problemas", Prismas, 13, 2009.
José Antonio Aguilar Rivera, "Presentación: La Nueva Historia Política, nuevas miradas a nuevos problemas", Prismas, 13, 2009.
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After Independence, Latin American countries faced similar problems yet also had similar expectations. From the River Plate to Mexico, through Colombia and Central America, thinkers and political leaders thought that the time had come to... more
After Independence, Latin American countries faced similar problems yet also had similar expectations. From the River Plate to Mexico, through Colombia and Central America, thinkers and political leaders thought that the time had come to eradicate colonial habits and transform society. This article describes the si- multaneity of these processes, as a result of which the author proposes that it is actually the same process, which took place between 1820s and 1830s. However, changing the habits and political culture of society is no easy task. Anti- reform movements overturned nearly all the measures promoted by the generation of politi- cians led by Bernardino Rivadavia, Francisco de Paula de Santander, Mariano Gálvez, and Va- lentín Gómez Farías.
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This paper analyzes the counterinsurgency activities of the Mexican Spy Company, leaded by Miguel Dominguez and organized by Ethan Hitchcock, during the Mexican War.
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Luego de tres siglos de dominio, en menos de quince años España perdió sus posesiones en América, con excepción de las del Caribe. A pesar de la dimensión de esta transformación, la discusión historiográfica sobre el carácter... more
Luego de tres siglos de dominio, en menos de quince años España perdió sus posesiones en América, con excepción de las del Caribe. A pesar de la dimensión de esta transformación, la discusión historiográfica sobre el carácter revolucionario de los procesos que desembocaron en el derrumbe del mayor de los imperios atlánticos y el surgimiento de las precoces repúblicas americanas ha estado marcada, sobre todo, por el escepticismo. Frente al discurso patriótico de la historia oficial —que afirma lo revolucionario que fue la independencia—, no pocos historiadores han considerado que el mundo hispanoamericano era, y seguiría siendo, demasiado jerárquico...
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“Sin independencia no hay soberanía. Conceptos a prueba”, en Jorge Schiavón, Mario Vázquez y Daniela Spencer, coords., En busca de una nación soberana. Relaciones internacionales de México, siglos XIX y XX, México, Secretaría de... more
“Sin independencia no hay soberanía. Conceptos a prueba”, en Jorge Schiavón, Mario Vázquez y Daniela Spencer, coords., En busca de una nación soberana. Relaciones internacionales de México, siglos XIX y XX, México, Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores–Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, 2006, p. 29-62. ISBN 96874250-421.
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About recent interpretations on Mexican Independence
Ed. by A. Ávila, V. Guedea, A. Ibarra
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Programa de Mirador Universitario, mesa redonda con Felipe Castro y David Guerrero.