Purpose: In different ways, Knight , Osten, and McCormick chart the emergence of an authoritarian government from a popular social revolution, involving varying degrees of force (from the government) and consent (from the governed). We’ve discussed some of the elements involved in this process: political violence, show investigations, archaeology and museums, murals, agrarian reform, and, now, cooperatives.
Task: Terms like “authoritarian” and dictablanda may make us think that the government’s power was unlimited, but, as McCormick shows, that wasn’t the case—forms of compromise provided another way for rural campesinosto make their way in a system that depended on them but that ultimately did not view them as equals. First post, cite evidence from one of the readings cited above to discuss at least two ways that the Revolution resulted in an authoritarian government.
Second post, cite evidence from McCormick how rural campesinos dealt with that government. How did people make their lives in this kind of disadvantageous situation?
