The Reconstruction of a Modern Mexican Peasantry

This analysis of maize in Mexico reveals how technocratic prejudices and modernizing ideologies have had a devastating impact. The tenacity with which the peasantry continues to support traditional social and productive organizations with their own resources is evidence of the currency of their unique vision of society. This vision is leading them to inject new vigour into rural society by diversifying their productive strategies, an approach that has always been a central part of rural survival, but whose significance has been underestimated by social scientists who have largely focused on their productivity in the fields.