Anti-Chinese racism, nationalism and state formation in post-revolutionary Mexico, 1920s–1930s

Abstract

This article examines the mostly neglected anti-Chinese movement that, supported by Mexico's official post-revolutionary party, persecuted and finally expelled a large majority of Mexico's Chinese community. The article analyzes the trajectory of this racial movement from its origins as a social and political movement to its incorporation within the new orthodoxy of the post-revolutionary state. In particular, it examines the relevance of anti-Chinese racism and ideology for the resolution of the hegemonic struggle between the two dominant Sonoran caudillos Plutarco Elias Calles and Alvaro Obregón. Secondly, it considers the importance of anti-Chinese ideology and actions for the creation of consent in the “unstable equilibrium” that shaped Mexican politics between 1928 and 1934. Finally, this article examines the epistemological compatibility between anti-Chinese ideology, the “cultural revolution” of Mexico's post-revolutionary regimes, and the racial understandings and sentiments of the mestizaje theories informing Mexican revolutionary nationalism. The article suggests that a reconsideration of race offers a better theoretical understanding of Mexican state formation and the cultural processes through which social identities take form in interaction with the state, its institutions and discourses. The treatment of race as a political problem also contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms and processes that transform diffuse racial sentiments, perceptions and expectations into militant and politically organized racial movements.

Citation

Rénique, G. (2001), "Anti-Chinese racism, nationalism and state formation in post-revolutionary Mexico, 1920s–1930s", Davis, D.E. (Ed.) Political Power and Social Theory (Political Power and Social Theory, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0198-8719(00)80025-3