El autor nos presenta una visión económica de corte sólidamente ortodoxo con la cual uno puede no estar siempre de acuerdo. Sin embargo, en esta compilación destacan dos aspectos que justifican su lectura aun para aquellos que busquen ideas y soluciones más heterodoxas. Por una parte, el autor ofrece un recuento sumamente informado, coherente y perceptivo de un periodo crucial de la historia económica reciente de México, que vale la pena para todos recordar, sin importar creencias o convicciones personales. Por otra parte, el tema general de los escritos, el alcance e instrumentación del papel del Estado en el desarrollo económico de México, se ha vuelto más relevante que nunca en este momento en que el Estado mexicano atraviesa nuevamente una crisis de identidad al prepararse para un nuevo sexenio.
Based on a decade of field research, this work is the first book-length, scholarly examination in English of the role of Catholicism in Mexican society since the 1970s through 1995, and the increasing political activism of the Catholic church and clergy. It is also the first analysis of church-state relations in Latin America that incorporates detailed interviews of numerous bishops and clergy and leading politicians about how they see each other and how religion influences their values. It is also the first analysis of the Mexican Catholic Church which uses national survey research to examine Mexican attitudes toward religion, Christianity, and Catholicism, and provides the first inside look at the decision-making process of bishops at the diocesan level.
The Metamorphosis of Leadership in a Democratic Mexico is a broad analysis of Mexico's changing leadership over the past eight decades, stretching from its pre-democratic era (1935-1988), to its democratic transition (1988-2000) to its democratic period (2000-the present). In it, Roderic Camp, one of the most distinguished scholars of Mexican politics, seeks to answer two questions: 1) how has Mexican political leadership evolved since the 1930s and in what ways, beyond ideology, has the shift from a semi-authoritarian, one-party system to a democratic, electoral system altered the country's leadership? and 2) which aspects of Mexican leadership have been most affected by this shift in political models and when and why did the changes in leadership occur? Rather than viewing Mexico's current government as a true democracy, Camp sees it as undergoing a process of consolidation, under which the competitive electoral process has resulted in a system of governing institutions supported by the majority of citizens and significant strides toward plurality. Accordingly, he looks at the relationship between the decentralization of political power and the changing characteristics, experiences and paths to power of national leaders. The book, which represents four decades of Camp's work, is based upon a detailed study of 3000 politicians from the 1930s through the present, incorporating regional media accounts and Camp's own interviews with Mexican presidents, cabinet members, assistant secretaries, senators, governors, and party presidents.
Based on extensive fieldwork and a wide variety of US and Mexican academic, government and journalistic sources, this book analyzes the critical institutions and policy issues that will determine whether and how the Mexican government can modernize the economy and retain political legitimacy.
At the end of the Spanish civil war, Mexico was the only country to offer open refuge to the thousands of Republican emigrés who fled from Spain in 1939–1940. Exiles and Citizens is a study of these political exiles, especially those with intellectual and professional backgrounds and ambitions. It focuses on their adjustment to Mexico, on their continued ties to Spain, and on their impact on Mexican development. The critical dilemma faced by the Spanish exiles was that, despite having fought for their political and social ideals in Spain, they forfeited in exile their active role in Spanish history. In Mexico they found a political and social system that seemed to include many of the ideals that had inspired the Spanish Republic; moreover, they were able to incorporate themselves economically, professionally, and intellectually into Mexican national life. Yet, because they were not native-born citizens, they had little or no creative part to play in the politics of their adopted country. For Mexico, the impact of the refugees from Spain was enormous. Integrated from the first into nearly all intellectual, professional, and cultural fields, their skills proved an important catalyst to Mexican development. Yet, outside these fields, Mexico was never an effective "melting pot." The Republicans themselves were divided in their loyalties, and the Mexicans, from the beginning, were reluctant to encourage the full participation of their guests in national affairs. Two goals were shared by most of the exiles: to ensure that the world would remember the liberal, creative, and open Spain they had created and thus reject Franco; to show their gratitude by working for the benefit and progress of Mexico. These goals, although frequently contradictory, sustained the emigration and gave meaning to exile. The refugees tried to maintain their identity by coming together in formal and informal associations that were intended either to act on behalf of the homeland or to re-create the Spanish Republican structures and values in exile. To maintain a Spanish identity, however, proved difficult, and for the second and third generations in Mexico, the initial goals had already lost their meaning. For them, economic and professional, as well as familial, ties were strongly Mexican. Spanish Republicans in Mexico represented a fairly rare phenomenon: a large group of skilled, relatively well educated immigrants to a country where persons of their attainments and status were not numerous. Moreover, as political exiles, they approached the problems of acculturation differently from economic emigrants. Patricia Fagen's study thus offers a further understanding of an important exile community and the characteristics that set it apart from other examples of immigrant experiences. In addition, the study sheds new light on the intellectual history of Mexico and the far-reaching effects of the Spanish civil war.
My Father’s Shoes is, at its core, an anthology of short stories. The book is allegoric and the shoes are metaphoric. Unlike most anthologies, however, these stories are an amalgam of themselves. They integrate and coalesce. There is a rhythm and a cadence both in substance and in form. This book was initially written as a gift to my father. I wanted to share certain memories with him that were meaningful and lasting. I wanted him to know, from my perspective, just how important he was in my life. He never really understood the profound impact that he had on the lives of other people –especially his family. Because of that humility, or perhaps in honor of it, I wanted to him know that he truly made a difference in this world. As others read the manuscript they seemed to recognize something of themselves in these stories. A memory. A passage. An incident. A feeling. As they did I became more comfortable with sharing these vignettes of family life. In the end this book is really more about me than my father. But, even more than that, it is about appreciating every circumstance in life however mundane or unremarkable it may seem at the time. These seemingly discrete and unrelated moments actually define who you are, what you become and what matters most in life. At least they did for me. My father always used to say, senza memoria vita non esiste, which in Italian means, ‘without memory life does not exist.' These are my memories and this is my inheritance. Raymond F. Vennare While dedicating a significant and successful portion of his life and career to business, entrepreneurship and science, Raymond’s essential orientation is humanistic. He is exquisitely aware of the inter-relatedness of all things. This ability to intrinsically see and understand how disciplines overlap and coincide is Raymond’s distinctive gift. He is at home in the intersections of business, culture, art and science, and uses interconnectedness as a catalyst for finding novel ways to forge bonds across disciplines and solve human problems. Raymond has always been driven to express his way of seeing the commonalities of the world. This is reflected in the lifelong diversity and range of his pursuits; through his work as an academically trained art historian, ethicist and businessman and as a multi-disciplinary artist — painter, writer, musician, and commentator. His current artistic offering is a richly textured memoir, My Father’s Shoes, which he is also adapting for stage and audio performance. This vibrant anthology celebrates the capacity of one person to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. With humorous reflection, clanking dishes, wafting aromas, and loving tenderness, it vividly reminds us how we ultimately transfer our human energy trough the stories and memories we create and leave behind. There isn’t one ounce of fat in Vennare’s writing. Every story is a journey, every sentence a complete thought. This book is not just a good read ... this is Benediction. —Frank Ferraro, Filmmaker and Playwright I feel like I know these people, and I care about them and the vivid way they lived. Vennare’s courage in the act of remembering his father’s life, and revealing his own, is an invitation to all of us to find a way to pass on the stories and memories we hold most dear. —Karen Kern, Writer My Father's Shoes is a wonderful trip down memory lane. With each chapter read, the pages penned touched my heart and resonated with personal stories of my own family members. The book is a one shoe fits all narrative. —Lillie Leonardi, Author, In the Shadow of a Badge
