Latin America Contemporary Reform Ideas
The contemporary reform policies and ideas in Mexico aimed to bring fundamental changes to the political, social, and economic status of the Mexican society. The reforms were enacted to reduce social inequality caused by racial discrimination, and disparities portrayed in different social classes. Some factors which facilitated the formation of the policies and ideas included population growth, industrial development, urbanization, and the influence of certain political parties.
The reforms resulted in positive and negative impacts on Mexican society in practice in the 20th century. The efforts of reducing the high levels of social inequality were ineffective. The wealth social classes continued to receive political and economic privileges (Escobar 2018). The wealth class obtained property through corruption and left the poor social classes still struggling to achieve comfortable living standards. The industrialization improvement caused by the reform policies benefited the wealthy social class more than the other social classes, and social inequality remained in existence.
The rate of population growth reduced with variations in the different Latin American countries. The leading cause of the reduction of the population growth was the emigration of the Latin Americans (including Mexicans) to the United States. Reformation resulted in the Mexican citizens’ exposure to the United States modernization and lifestyle through television and developed infrastructures. Majority of Mexicans moved to the United States intending to obtain economic prosperity. The improvement of transportation roads accelerated the movement of the people. Therefore, the contemporary reform policies and ideas led to the modernization of the Mexican society and exposure to United States trends which led to migration and consequently population growth rate decline.
The social and economic modernization caused changes in gender relations. Women obtained legal equality with men. Wives were given equal authority over minor-aged children as their husbands. Women received increased equality in education and employment, earning them better control over their lives. Many women enrolled in education programs and were presented with professional options better than the traditional stereotyped ones. The equality of women significantly contributed to the fall of birth rate. Women started pursuing careers and reduced the rate of conception. Women from both upper class and low social classes were allowed to obtain an education. The equality of women in the sector of education resulted in the restructuring of the social classes. Some women from the lower social levels managed to move to the upper class due to educational achievement. Despite the equality, the gender pay gap remained unsolved.
Ethnic groups considered as minorities sought grater social opportunities and respect from society. Some ethnic groups started to question racial discrimination which was overlooked and believed to be non-existence in Mexico. In the Mexican community, racial discrimination was class-based (Polanco 2018). The ethnic minority groups formed social movements supported by the reform policies to demand their political and economic rights. Greater militancy rose among the indigenous people of the society. The indigenous people in Mexican society gained economic improvements and recognition among cultures. The political opinion of the minorities started to be considered, as well as the impact of the reform ideas and policies.
Vasconcelors theory “mestizaje” was a political ideology facilitating modern social progress, national identity, and unity. The theory concept emphasized the assimilation of indigenous cultures to foster social justice and development. Vasconcelors, in his theory, he expressed sentiments against social inequalities, racial discrimination, and negligence of ethnic minorities. Vasconcelors advocates the mixing of cultures regardless of skin colour. According to Vasconcelors, ethnic groups should come together for economic prosperity and put aside the discrimination based on race. The mestizaje theory expresses sentiments demonstrated in the discrimination potential intellectual due to their skin colour. Professional skills of certain ethnic groups are undervalued, and that plays a part in the slow growth of the economic status. Vasconcelors helped to put together mestizaje as national ideology and had an impact on the culture and race politics.
Sentiments expressed by Vasconcelors his mestizaje theory aligns with the contemporary reform ideas and policies. The reform policies sought to erase social inequality, fight race discrimination and seek recognition of the ethnic minorities in the societies (Palacios 2017). The main goal of the reform ideas was to attain social, political and economic progression upon fighting these setbacks. The same problems the reform policies were trying to erase from the Mexico society are the same sentiments Vasconcelors expresses in his theory. Vasconcelors theory was educating hybridity and promoted the belief that Mexico was a homogeneous nation. The same results Vasconcelors sought to achieve were the same goals the reform policies promised to bring to the Mexican society.
Mestizaje encouraged Mexicans to drop racial disclosure in public and assimilate cultures. The reform ideas though were not effective in reducing social inequality it fought to reduce the disparity between wealth class and poor and eradicate the privileges earned through skin colour (Manrique 2018). The mestizaje theory achieved the hybridity notion at a national level due to the sentiments Vasconcelors taught about concerning intellectuals being shut down due to their race. On the other hand, reform ideas encouraged the ethnic minorities in Mexico to fight for political rights, and it earned them social recognition. Therefore, both Vasconcelors sentiments and the contemporary reform ideas and policies sought to achieve the same results in Mexican society. Both ideologies worked to achieve social modernization which will drive the society to better status for the citizens.
The theory of mestizaje is inclusive since it fights for the inclusion of all cultures in the development of Mexican society. The concept of the theory teaches people to disregard recognition of people based on race and work to stop politics which motivate races to fight each other. The theory advocates for all the cultures and people of each skin colour to be treated with the same respect and be given the same respect. The ideology goal is the inclusion of everyone from the race.
In conclusion, the 20th-century reform policies and ideas greatly impacted Mexican society. The reforms sought to eradicate social inequality, race discrimination, and rate of population growth. The changes failed to reduce social disparities but reduced population growth. Women achieved equality with men in education and employment. Ethnic minorities fought for their political rights and social acknowledgement as well. The sentiments of Vasconcelors in his mestizaje theory align with the reform ideas and policies. Both the reform and the theory ideology fought to eliminate the same things from the Mexican society and resulted in achieving almost similar results. Vasconcelors main focus was to fight for intellectuals to be valued and their skills not to be judged based on their skin colour. Therefore, the concept makes it an inclusive theory.
References
Escobar, A. (2018). The making of social movements in Latin America: Identity, strategy, and democracy. Routledge.
Manrique-Robles, L. (2018). Mestizaje: The All-inclusive Fiction (Doctoral dissertation, Goldsmiths, University of London).
Palacios, A. (2017). Multicultural Vasconcelos: The optimistic, and at times willful, of La Raza Cósmica. Latino Studies, 15(4), 416-438.
Pitts, A. J. (2018). Theorizing Race in the Americas: Douglass, Sarmiento, Du Bois, and Vasconcelos by Juliet Hooker. Critical Philosophy of Race, 6(1), 109-119.
Polanco, H. D. (2018). Indigenous peoples in Latin America: the quest for self-determination. Routledge.