The ideological reappropriation of the idea of ​​"race" among the peasants of Morelos at the end of the 19th century and during the Porfiriato : An outline of historical anthropology from the perspective of "those from below" and from their own texts

Abstract

In the 19th century, the concept of "race" was part of the discursive arsenal of elites to consolidate their domination. The Latin American popular classes appropriated certain concepts of the dominant discourse in order to place their own discourse on the political scene. In this context of ideological struggles, in Mexico peasant communities had to make use of the concept of "race" to defend their rights to land and their political traditions. However, they gave it a different meaning: the "indigenous race as the legitimate owner of the lands." That is why Guy Thomson was able to speak of "political bilingualism" when he analyzed the peasant demands. From the study of corridosof the time, the article analyzes the recurrent political-social themes in the Surian popular trova during the Porfiriato. The central hypothesis of the article is the following: in a difficult and unfavorable correlation of forces for the popular classes, they had to resort to a reinterpretation of the dominant ideology in their dialogue / resistance with the national state to try to put their word and make them heard his voice.