Date of Award
2024-08-01
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
History
Advisor(s)
Samuel Brunk
Abstract
Most works examining the Bracero Program (1942-1964) or the Mexican Agricultural Program (1943-1965) do so in a way that ignores how both programs interacted to impact rural Mexicans and Mexican agriculture. “Modern Agricultures, Traditional Appetites: The United States, Mexico, and Binational Mutual Aid, 1940-1965” contributes to the scholarship of both programs by exploring their interactions and impacts, both positive and negative. Moreover, this dissertation utilizes a unique theoretical framework combining anarchist theory with food studies to place these events within the larger context of food and state throughout Mexican history.
“Modern Agricultures, Traditional Appetites” frames both programs as examples of mutual aid projects, exploring the motivations and goals of the farm laborers who participated in the Bracero Program as well as those of the scientists who traveled to Mexico for the Mexican Agricultural Program. This dissertation shows that both programs relied on messaging aimed at invoking a sense of altruism among their participants, helping to ensure that their neighboring countries were fed. At the same time, this dissertation shows how Mexican agriculture under the Mexican Agricultural Program became something of an extension of U.S. production, while many peasant families in Mexico were forced to rely on the money men could earn participating in the Bracero Program as a way to prevent total loss. Both programs ultimately interacted to disrupt the traditional foodways and peasant economy of Mexico.
Language
en
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Copyright Date
2024-08-01
File Size
221 p.
File Format
application/pdf
Rights Holder
Malinalli Xipil Leyva
Recommended Citation
Leyva, Malinalli Xipil, "Modern Agricultures, Traditional Appetites: The United States, Mexico, and Binational Mutual Aid, 1940-1965" (2024). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 4188.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/4188