The Möbius strip
Subtitle: a spatial history of colonial society in Guerrero, Mexico
By: Jonathan D. Amith
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 661
Subjects: Land settlement -- Mexico -- Guerrero (State) -- History; Land tenure -- Mexico -- Guerrero (State) -- History; Migration, Internal -- Mexico -- Guerrero (State) -- History; Grain trade -- Mexico -- Guerrero (State) -- History; Guerrero (Mexico : State) -- Economic conditions; Guerrero (Mexico : State) -- Colonization; Guerrero (Mexico : State) -- Commerce -- History
Description: "This book explores the history, political economy, and culture of space in central Guerrero, Mexico, during the colonial period. This study is significant for two reasons. First, space comprises a sphere of contention that affects all levels of society, from the individual and his or her household to the nation-state and its mechanisms for control and coercion. Second, colonialism offers a unique situation, for it invariably involves a determined effort on the part of an invading society to redefine politico-administrative units, to redirect the flow of commodities and cash, and, ultimately, to foster and construct new patterns of allegiance and identity to communities, regions, and countries."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [569]-610) and index
Table of contents: title: Terrain and territoriality: the natural and social context of land and property. The lay of the land ; The law of the land: crown policy and Iberian custom in the colonization of New Spain; title: Eppur si muove! The dynamics of economic transformation in rural central Guerrero. Land acquisition during the early colonial period ; Hacienda formation and market structure: landholding in north- and south-central Guerrero ; Place making and place breaking: migration and the development cycle of community ; The politics of economy and space: Interjurisdictional migration in to the Iguala Valley ; Spaces of capital and commerce: rural society and the interregional economy of central Guerrero ; The transformation of rural society: commercial capital and the monopolization of resources; title: Absolute property and spatial politics: struggles for control over grain tin the late colonial period. The political and moral economy of subsistence:: state control of grain markets ; Seeds of discord and discontent: grain, regionalism, and emerging class conflict