Railroad Radicals In Cold War Mexico Gender Class And Memory Robert F Alegre by Robert F. Alegre, Elena Poniatowska 9780803244849, 0803244843 instant download after payment.

Despite the Mexican government’s projected image of prosperity and modernity in the years following World War II, workers who felt that Mexico’s progress had come at their expense became increasingly discontented. From 1948 to 1958, unelected & often corrupt officials of STFRM, the railroad workers’ union, collaborated with the ruling Institutionalized Revolutionary Party (PRI) to freeze wages for the rank and file. In response, members of STFRM staged a series of labor strikes in 1958 & 1959 that inspired a nationwide working-class movement. The Mexican army crushed the last strike on March 26, 1959, & union members discovered that in the context of the Cold War, exercising their constitutional right to organize & strike appeared radical, even subversive.

Railroad Radicals in Cold War Mexico examines a pivotal moment in post–World War II Mexican history. The railroad movement reflected the contested process of postwar modernization, which began with workers demanding higher wages at the end of World War II & culminated in the railway strikes of the 1950s, a bold challenge to PRI rule. In addition, Robert F. Alegre gives the wives of the railroad workers a narrative place in this history by incorporating issues of gender identity in his analysis.

ELENA PONIATOWSKA is a prolific author & journalist who focuses on social & human rights issues. Her work is read around the world & has won numerous literary awards, such as the prestigious Miguel de Cervantes Prize.