UC San Diego

This dissertation is a political history of the central-western Mexican state of Jalisco from 1914-1940 that explores the interplay between national reforms, local and state politics, and popular responses to regional crisis. I approach the study of this region by focusing on three interrelated stories, showcasing how state power was understood at various levels of society. The first is concerned with how individuals came to see their place in the social order, especially during and after moments of disruption and crisis. The second narrates the struggle between regional authorities in Guadalajara and the central government in Mexico City over effective political control of the state. And the third studies how political projects—such as agrarian reform, anticlericalism, and educational reform—came to intersect with the social and cultural contexts of life in the countryside. Central to this dissertation are three significant rebellions that shook the established social order: the de la Huerta Rebellion (1923-1924), the Cristero Rebellion (1926-1929), and the Second Cristero Rebellion (1934-1940). Together, the long-term effects of these recurring upheavals were formative to the new regime that emerged in the postrevolutionary period. The dissertation argues that anxieties over violence shaped the manner in which citizens in Jalisco understood their rights and ultimately contested the presence of the state. This challenges our understanding of local participation in the political process, often seen as a closed sphere dominated by powerful state agents ruling with unquestioned authority, where ordinary people rarely made their voices heard. Instead, these episodes reveal how local officials debated the limits of national power and struggled with how to govern, while simultaneously consenting to the demands of citizens.