Description
Book SynopsisOne of The Chronicle of Higher Education's Best Scholarly Books of 2021Revolution in Development uncovers the surprising influence of postrevolutionary Mexico on the twentieth century's most important international economic institutions. Drawing on extensive archival research in Mexico, the United States, and Great Britain, Christy Thornton meticulously traces how Mexican officials repeatedly rallied Third World leaders to campaign for representation in global organizations and redistribution through multilateral institutions. By decentering the United States and Europe in the history of global economic governance, Revolution in Development shows how Mexican economists, diplomats, and politicians fought for more than five decades to reform the rules and institutions of the global capitalist economy. In so doing, the book demonstrates, Mexican officials shaped not only their own domestic economic prospects but also the contours of the project of international development itself.
Trade Review"The book represents a major, trend-setting breakthrough in how we understand the origins and growth of international economic organizations and in how historians can decenter a northern framework and more effectively approach south-north interactions across a wide range of topics. . . .This superb book should be required reading for anyone interested in Mexico’s foreign policy and domestic development policies—today or in the past. It is also essential for non-Mexicanists interested in the contested status of today’s international economic institutions and their history."
* H-LatAm *
"Thornton’s book represents an illuminating account that, drawing on absolutely outstanding research, helps us to better think about Mexico’s postrevolutionary history and improves our understanding of center-periphery relations during the twentieth century." * Hispanic American Historical Review *
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Revolution in Development offers a nuanced and multilayered view of hegemony and state agency in the world system." * American Journal of Sociology *
"In well-articulated and concise chapters and drawing on meticulous archival work, Thornton manages to relate the different levels of negotiation and agency of Mexican officials in the international arena, from the most local and personal instances to the changing national and geopolitical contexts." * Redaktion COMPARATIV *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: How Could Mexico Matter?
1 • Recognition and Representation: The Mexican Revolution and Multilateral Governance
2 • A New Legal and Philosophic Conception of Credit: Redefining Debt in the 1930s
3 • A Solidarity of Interests: Mexico and the Inter-American Bank
4 • Voice and Vote: Mexico’s Postwar Vision at Bretton Woods
5 • Within Limits of Justice: The Economic Charter for the Americas and Its Critics
6 • Organizing the Terms of Trade: Mexico and the International Trade Organization
7 • The Price of Success: Navigating the New Development Order during the Mexican Miracle
8 • A Mexican International Economic Order? The Echeverría Synthesis
Conclusion: Hegemony and Reaction: The United States in Opposition
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
