1. Standard essay question: “At its close in 1940 with the political demise of Cardenismo, had the Mexican Revolution fulfilled your preferred definition of a ‘social’ revolution or not?”

Guidance: you are being asked to use your favored definition of a social revolution, recalling your previous response Skocpol’s or Ruíz’s arguments, and apply it retrospectively to the history of the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1940. What changed? Was there enough change for us to talk of a social revolution in the sense of a complete transformation (Ruiz)? Or did the Revolution simply continue the state-building work of the Porfiriato, perhaps even speeding it up by tying peasants and workers to a new, more centralized, regime (Skocpol)? I am not particularly concerned which definition of social revolution you use, or which argument you make, nor are you obliged now to stick with your original choice from Paper One. I simply ask that you apply one definition with consistency to Mexico and reach a considered verdict on the Mexican Revolution, backing up your arguments with evidence drawn from a sufficiently wide body of secondary readings. Also, regarding Skocpol and Ruiz, the final asks you to draw on one of their definitions of revolution.

The requirement is for a 5-6 pp. double-spaced essay, with bibliography, images, and/or titles to appear on additional pages (that is, you must write a minimum of 5-6 pages, not 4 pages plus a bibliography and a title page).

Sources: This is a take-home paper and hence evidence of genuine secondary research is required. A minimum of 7 different bibliographical items––books, journal articles, book chapters––is needed in order complete this assignment. Fewer items, demonstrating minimal or insufficient research effort, will result in a punitive lowering of the grade or an assignment that is simply returned to you ungraded. More will be rewarded.

NO INTERNET SOURCES ALLOWED (you may of course use standard sources, such as books and journal articles, that you have accessed through the internet)