Content area
Full text
Ryan M. Alexander , Sons of the Mexican Revolution: Miguel Alemán and his Generation (Albuquerque, NM : University of New Mexico Press , 2016), pp. ix + 245, £32.50, pb.
Reviews
This book is a substantial account of the career of Miguel Alemán, President of Mexico 1946-52, a key figure in the formation of the regime of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) which ruled Mexico for over a generation. Ryan Alexander traces Alemán's family background in Veracruz, his student days in Mexico City, and his ascent of the greasy pole of Mexican politics from the Governorship of Veracruz - where he established a dynasty - to the presidency. Along the way are some useful observations about architectural modernism, urban planning, and the Green Revolution. As president, Alemán oversaw a decisive shift away from the popular, agrarian and anticlerical emphasis of the revolutionary generation (1910-40) towards what has been called the 'preferred revolution' (preferred, not least, by the United States, with which Alemán forged close and profitable relations), involving industrialisation, urbanisation and political centralisation.
Like many political biographers, Alexander exaggerates the novelty - and the positive achievements - of his subject. Alemán did not 'set [Mexico] on the path towards rapid industrialisation' (p. 1); that path had already been laid down. He was not the first president 'to fuse the interests of government and big business' (p. 11): Calles and Abelardo Rodríguez preceded him. Alexander does not ignore the 'ugly side' of PRIísta politics but he accentuates the positive and takes a swipe at the so-called 'scholarly consensus' which, supposedly, stresses the self-seeking authoritarianism of Alemanismo (pp. 6, 9). (Steve Niblo is cited here, but there is no sustained critical engagement with Niblo's excoriating analysis of Alemanismo.) While recognizing Alemán's reputation for graft and money-making, which included (probable) collusion with the Axis (pp. 63, 70), Alexander dances around the subject, claiming - rather implausibly - that 'corruption' is indefinable (p. 168) and arguing that, since graft cannot be precisely quantified, it is not even worth attempting some ballpark figures. (A rough résumé of Alemán's assets - including his 'gem' resort located on the 'glimmering [sic] bay' of 'his beloved Acapulco' [pp. 15, 101, 185] - would be both feasible and helpful.) As for Alemán's...