Lomnitz-1995 -- Ritual Rumor and Corruption y

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1/28

ritual,

rumor and corruption in the

constitution of polity

in

modern

mexico

introduction

This paper provides

a

perspective

on the

conn ection s between ritual

and

polity

in

Mexico. Constructing

eventhe

roughest

m ap

of this relationship is

a dauntingtask, both em pirically and con ceptually. Nevertheless, as the

num ber of historical and anthropological studies of ritual and politics

grows,

1

sodoesthe

need to construct various organizing

perspectives.

I shall

propose

suchavantage point here

by exploring the historical con-

n ections between various sorts of

rituals and the developm ent of

local and n ation al public spheres.

2

My ultim ate goal is to clarify the

connection

between

political ritu al

and the constitution of political

com m unities in the national

space.

Inordertocarryout this aim ,

I propose a line of historical and

spatial inquiry that is driven by a

set o f m ethodological and theo-

retical inn ovations that m ay be

sum m arized as follows. First, I

hypothesize a com plex relation -

ship between the existen ce of

areas of free political discussion , public spheres, and the cen trality of

political ritual as an arena where political decision s are n egotiated and

journal of latin american anthropology 1(1):2


2/28

claudio lomnitz

university of hicago

resumen

enacted. At an y given local level, the relationship between public discussion

and ritual is n egative: ritual substitutes for discussion and vice-versa.

However, in an in tegrated n ation al space, the relation ship can be

com plem entary: localized political rituals becom e the stuff from which a

(restricted) national public

sphere derives

its legitim acy.

3

Second,

I

propose

a few characteristics of the geography of

public spheres

em phasizin g

the

fact

that civic discussion in Mexico

has been segm ented along class

and regional lines, and that the

consolidation of national public

**

frab

?i

P/esenta

una perspective

, . ,

r

nu eva at enfo car el significado de l

opinion has always been a ritual en la esfera pu blica n a d o n a t y ta

problematic

affair

Third, I posit relac ion entre el ritua l, el rumor y la

dialectica de la expansion estatal en

Mexico. El traba jo considera el

desarroiip hjstonco de regiones politicas

en Mexico; traza ef desarrollo de

esf eras publlcas locales y nac ionales ;

y luego discute el papel del ritual

en Ta ge og ra f ia po l i t i co

M exic an a. El autor presenta

n o v e d a d e s t e o r i c a s y

metodologicas mientrasque aclara

los lazos entre el ritua l politico y la

constitucion de c om un ldad es ponticas

en el espacio nacion al.

that the creation of a n ational

public sphere in this spatially

segm ented field o f opin ion and

discussion involves creating

m echanism s for privileged in ter-

pretations of a diffuse popular

will. I therefore explore the

relation ship between political

ritual, rum or and the dram atiza-

tion of political in terests. Finally,

I argue that there is a general

relation ship between political

ritual and localized appropria-

tion s of state institutions (corruption ). The expansion of state in stitution s is

historicallylinked

to

the conflictin g dem ands of an tagon istic local groups, a

factor that strengthens the im portance of ritual, of festivities, and of the

ritual,

rumor and corruption In mexlco 21


3/28

redistribute actions that are associated with them. As a result, there is a

connection between footing the bill of these rituals and the ways in which

state institutions are appropriated. The inception and growth of state

institutions involves the production of ritual, so the patrons of these rituals

have a degree of control over the local branches of those institutions.

This paper is divided into three parts. First, I offer general

considerations on the historical development of political regions in Mexico

as necessary preliminary groundwork for an adequate understanding of the

geography of public spheres. Readers who are familiar with the history of

Mexican political geography may wish to skip this section. Second, I provide

an outline of the development of local public spheres and of a national public

sphere. Finally, I discuss the relationship between ritual, rumor, and

corruption and their role

in the

representation of political interests and in the

production of boundaries within the polity.

political regions

in

historical perspective

A spatial perspective of Mexico's public sphere requires a general

understanding of the development of the political and cultural regionsinthat

country: political regions because those are the communities that public

spheres are organized to discuss; cultural regions because they reflect the

existence of discussion, display, consensus and dissent. For reasons of space,

I shall focusmy discussion hereonpolitical regions and shall make reference

to cultural regions only when it is indispensable.

4

I shall briefly sketch the evolution of Mexican political geography by

summarizing the inter-connections between four dimensions: transforma-

tions in administrative un its, transformations in the sort of power that was

concentrated in

them,

types of bureaucratic organizations that were utilized,

and forms of representing the peoplein the administrative units. This review

serves the purpose of clarifying various levels and kinds of political

comm unities in M exico. In particular, I want to stress that interconnections

between a peo ple and the sta te vary in different kinds of political

regions.

colonial organizations

Understanding the history of territorially-based politics in M exico m ust

perforce begin inthe colonial period,

5

and specifically in the 1530s, when the

crown began wrenching political jurisdiction over Indians out ofthe hands of

encomenderosand into those of appointed

corregidores.During

these early

years, the crown established an administrative system that was essentially

three-tiered. The viceroy, at the top of the system, concentrated all civil

2 2 Journal off latin am ^r lcan anthropology


4/28

branches of governm ent and retained an im portant role in the religious

branch as well. The second tier was the

corregimiento

and the

alcalde

mayor,

6

whichwerethe mainprovin cial un its duringthe whole colon ial era.

These un its hadat

their

apex a

corregidor

or an

alcalde mayor

(sin ce these

titlesbecameequivalen t

in

many

cases,

I

shall usealcalde mayor

to

standfor

either),

who concentrated all four

branches

of civil governm ent in their hands

and could apply them equally to all races and castes.

State officials were expected to m ake m oney off o f their posts.

7

On e

sign ifican t form of raising personal revenue for an

alcalde mayor

was

m onopoly control over com m erce.

8

This bureaucratic system im plied a

certain de-cen tralization of state functions and widespread corruption . In

this con text, the m ediating role of the church was crucial, with a

concom itantly high political significance of local ritual.

9

The third

adm in istrative tier was the town governm ent, which had different

com position s depending on the sign ificance ofthe town and on whether it

was a Spanish villa or an Indian pueblo. Span ish town s had

cabildos

(coun cils), the head of whichwas thealcaldemayor.Indian jurisdiction s had

an Indian governor as well as a council m ade up of local n otables

iprincipales)

who had

minorposts.

10

Span ish citieswithIndian barrios often

had both form s of governm ent runn ing sim ultan eously, with the Indian

governm ent ultim ately accountable to the Span ish

cabildo}

1

In sum , there were three levels of territorial organ ization, but the truly

sign ifican t power was concen tratedin the uppertwo levels (the vice royalty

and

alcaldias mayores),

both of

which

were headed by crown appoin tees.

Popular representation was largely confined to local governm ents, especially

after the concentration of Indians into centralized villages was effectively

accom plished (en din g roughly 1605).

12

early changes

One early change, im plem ented in 1786, was the inclusion

of alcaldias

mayores

and

corregimientos

into larger units of adm in istrative con trol, the

intendencias. These units were ruled by an intendente,who was in every

respect like an

alcalde mayor

(re-nam ed

sub-delegado)

except that there

were fewer of them , they were salaried profession als accountable to the

crown, they

did not

exercise

or

allow

a

m onopolyoverlocal com m erce

in

the

benefit of an y m inor official, and they had greater m ilitary strength at their

disposal. The system ofintendenciassoughttoheightenthe crown 's con trol

over regions and to m ake possible an overhaul of the whole system of

com m erce and taxation .

13

The

intendencia

was the ideal system for central con trol both in the

Bourbon period and un til the 1910 Revolution , since it placed

alcaldes

mayores

(renamed

sub-delegados

and later transform ed into

jefes politicos)

ritual, rumor and corruption In m tx lco 23


5/28

under the surveillance of a higher authority that could

limit their

power and

consolidate revenues for central authorities. Whereas alcaldias mayores

were m uch larger than m odern -daymunicipios(there were 116 ofthemin

New Spain fewer than the num berof municipiosthat exist today inthestate

of Oaxaca alone),intendenciaswere very m uch the seeds of m odern-day

states. Thus, New Spain'salcaldias m ayoreswere incorporated into nine

intendencias:

An tequera (Oaxaca), Guanajuato, Mexico, Puebla, San Luis

Potosi, Valladolid (Michoacan), Guadalajara and Durango (Gerhard

1993:17). On

the other

hand,

many states

were created

out

of m ajor historic-

cultural regions that had found recogn ition in the territorial organ ization of

the church such as Oaxaca, Chiapas, Yucatan, Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala,

Michoacan , and Jalisco. Som e states, such as the state of M exico,

encom passed several historical regions, som e of

which

eventually split off

and becamestates in their own

right

(Guerrero, Hidalgo, Morelos).

14

In other

cases, historical region s were prevented from becom ing states (such as the

failed state of Iturbidein the

Huasteca),

orsign ifican t political rifts split one

region (the case o f Cam peche and Yucatan ).

A corn er-stone of the cen tralizing reform s o f the Bourbons was to wrest

control of the tax-base from local elites. This was carried out by

professionalizing

the

bureaucracy an d, just

as

im portan tly, by

relying on the

distin ction between Peninsulars and Creoles. The Bourbons gave

Peninsulars a privileged position in the new bureaucracy because, bein g

outsiders to New Spain , Pen in sulars n ecessarily reliedon thecrown as their

m ost sign ifican t ally. However, this resource was obviously n ot available to

Mexican governm ents after Independence.

Thus,

the independen t Mexican state

had enormous

difficulty in tryin g to

reconstitute

a

professional bureaucracy.

In the

process,

the

m aterial base for

a powerful central governm ent

was

lost, and regional

caudilloswere able

to

effectively assert their dem ands and power until they con trolled the m iddle

tiers of govern m ent, includin g the state governm ent. So, although the

federated state was in principle the heir of theintendencia,it passed out of

central bureaucratic con trol after Independence.

the modern era

This geography of power was slowly transform edbyPorfirio Diaz, who

m anaged to con solidate a relatively cen tralized regim e based largely

on

the

railroads. Diaz effectively brought state governors under presidential con trol

although this was n ot accom plished by a profession alization of the

bureaucracy as m uch as by the creation of a com plex balance between the

acknowledgm ent of the privileges of m ajor regional fam ilies and the

assertion of the prim acy of the president's will in any particular case .

15

Despite D iaz's success in creatin g a strong cen tral governm ent, his

2 4 Journal of latin am er lca n anthropology


6/28

reign ing coalition burst asunder during the Revolution . And central power

was pain stakin gly recreated through the decades of the 1920s and 1930s in

a system that far surpassed the efficacy of

Diaz:

the Revolutionary party.

From a territorial poin t of view, the 1917 con stitution elim inated a critical

historical figure,

ihejefe politico,

who was the m ost hated governm ental

represen tative o f the Porfiriato. Instead, m unicipal govern m ents were

con solidated, with nothing between

them and

state governm ents. This m ove

was com plem ented un der Lazaro Cardenas with extensive agrarian reform ,

which furtheredtheconcen tration of elitesincities, reorienting m ost of their

econom ic activity towards industryand

com m erce,

givin g som ewhat greater

autonom y to villages and

municipios.

Eviden tly, this m ove was successful because

it

occurred

in

tandem with

conditions that were favorable to industrialization . As a result, power was

centralized in the presidency and in the federal governm ent far m ore

effectively than under Diaz, leadin g to weak provin cial governm ents that

posed no serious contest to presidential power. Moreover, industrialization

under a state-led system ofimportsubstitution led to the form ation ofnew

sorts o f econom ic enclaves

and

organizations that cut across local and state

boundaries, and were organ ized n ationally with som e local chapters, again

stren gthening n ation al over region al identity, and national power over local

power.

On the other hand, post-revolutionary public adm in istration did n ot

follow a sim ple process of profession alization. Instead, the system

has

been

characterized by

a

m ixture of

rational

bureaucracy

and

system s o f prebendal

con trol known ascaciquismo .The con n ections between a profession alized

civil service and entrenched power holders reflect the currently existing

geography o f power.

In sum , M exican political geography has recogn ized

three

to four m ain

levels of political com m un ities. Of these,

the

city,

town or

village is the on ly

political un it with an uninterrupted history ofhavingm atched govern m ent

withtherepresentation of a peopleandofapopular w ill.Inthis respect, the

use of the term

pueblo

(people) to refer to any town is n ot without

sign ifican ce. Higher levels o f governm ent

(alcaldias m ayores, intendencias,

provinces or states) have m ore shallow traditions o f popular political

represen tation since represen tation at those levels involves articulatin g

various

and

diverse sorts of political

and

cultural collectivities and, perhaps

m ore im portan tly, because m id-level political un its were design ed m ain ly to

aid kin gs, presiden ts and regional elites to wrest resources and power from

local hands. As a result, representations of 'the people' have tended to be

stron gest at the local and the n ation al level, and weaker in the in term ediate

political com m un ities.

16

Correspon din gly, on e m ight expect both

ritual

and

ritual,rumor an d corruption In m ex lco 2 5


7/28

publicspheresto operate in distin ctive ways at the various levels o f M exican

political organ ization .

17

locating public spheres

Historian Francois Xavier Guerra has produced a political portrait o f

Mexico's 19th centuryin which he m ain tain sthatM exico'srealpolitical and

social organ ization was left without a correspondin g political ideology and

program after Independence. Without a m onarchy, the n ation 's region s, its

political bosses and clien ts, its corporate indigenous com m un ities,

hacendados and retainers had to create and accom m odate to a system of

political representation that

was,

in theory, based

on

equal individual rights.

This situation led to a system where an idealized n ational com m unity

was created by an elite m ade up of m ilitary leaders, hacendados, m in ers,

m erchants, and in tellectuals whose discussions occurred in the com m ercial

press,

free-m asonry

forum s,a

few urban literary

and

scien tific in stitutes, and

salons

and

social gatherings

(tertulias).This

elite form ed

the

n ation al public

opinion that m attered,and their ideas and ideals were form ally n ationalized

in institution s such as con gress, the suprem e court and the n ation al

presidency.

As a result, there was con siderable distan ce between what occurred in

the n ation al public sphere and the way in which the country was actually

govern ed, for governm ent relied alm ost entirely on private n egotiation

between politician s. So, for exam ple, Porfirio D iaz m ain tain ed a

rem arkable, con tin uous correspon dence with all of his governors and som e

jefes politicos

and local n otables. In this private correspondence, region al

issues were discussed, instructions were received, and suggestions were

provided. Governors would,

in

their

turn, m eet with represen tatives o f what

Guerra calls the prin ciple collective actors of their region s-

representatives of villages,

jefes politicos,

heads of elite fam ilies of

hacendados, m erchants and m iners and they would en gage in closed-door

discussionsthatparalleled thosethathadbeencarriedoutwithDiaz. Fin ally,

these leaders would institute the n ew policies.

This im plied that the n ational public sphere was constituted alm ost

exclusively by

elites

(both regionaland national),and

that there

wasnoopen

n ational or regional forum for civic discussion during the Porfiriato or,

a

fortiori

in an y of the previous regim es. On the other hand, the various

collective actors whose leaders were brought together in closed-door

discussion s also had their own local form s and forum s o f com m un ication ,

som e of which in volved free public discussion and som e of which did n ot.

This is why it is n ecessary to speak of publicspheres.

26 Journal of latin amorican anthropology


8/28

overview

of

mexican public spheres

Mexican cities in the pre-industrial age had as their m ain collective

actors local urban elites, artisanal guilds, petty m erchants, In dian

com m unity m em bers within the cities, and an urban rabble which at tim es

acted collectively but had no official corporate status. In rural areas, m ajor

relevant collective actors during this early period included

obraj e,

mine

workers and in habitants of haciendas, ranches and peasant com m un ities.

Most of these collectivities were organ ized in the religious plan e around

cofradias(corporations

for the

cult of saints)

and

also found discrete places

in the period's m ost in clusiverituals,such as the bullfight, m ajor religious

festivities, and the entrada of a viceroy, archbishop,

alcalde mayor

or

priest.

18

Much participation in these

cofradias

was

an occasion to discuss the

in ternal affairs of the collective actors. This is probably the root cause o f the

prohibition s that were raised against slave

and

blackcofradias(see Palm er

1976). The organ ization around the cult o f each collective actor's patron

sain t also allowed discussion and expression of collective in terests within

each o f those groups.

Colonial society offered n o political arena in which these various

discussions could be publicized and broadened. Newspapers, which were

in troduced in the 1720s and were m onthlies throughout m ost of the 18th

cen tury, were n ot a forum for public discussion . There were no editorials,

letters to the editor or opin ion pieces. Rather, there were short inform ation

briefs an n oun cin g the

ritual

ife of the city

and

glorifying

the

political life of

the colon y.

Thus,

collectivities were represen ted in the

ritual

ife of

the

kingdom but

their problem s were n ot discussed

or

exam in ed

in a

n ational forum of public

opinion. All of these collectivities were constructed out of

or

into sm aller

n etworks of fam ilies, frien ds, neighbors, patrons, clien ts,

and

allies, m ost of

which did and still do n ot serve as m in iature forum s for free dialogue and

discussion . Elite fam ilies, for exam ple, havebeen known

to

gatherhundreds

of m em bers in sign ifican t fam ilialrituals

and

to con struct com plex webs of

com m un ication and decision-m akin g processes within these large groups.

On the

other hand, m ost of these fam ilial decision s

and

debates could n ot be

said

to

occur

within miniature public spheres

because

members

do not

confer

in an unrestricted fashion , but rather discussion occurs in a hierarchical

con text where wom en and m en argue in different ways and places, where

thereare rules

of sen iority,

and where

significan t

status

differen tials between

m ajor power-holders and their (fam ilial) clien teles system atically inhibit

discussion . Thus we get

arichritual

ife

in

elite fam ilies,where

the

results of

com plex n egotiations, allian ces and decision s

are

displayed, but no fam ilial

public sphere operates.

19

ritual,



9/28

The sam e

sort

of argum ent can apply

to

the typically sm aller kin dreds o f

peasan ts, workers, artisan s, and sm all m erchants. They have sign ifican t

fam ilial rituals,strong channelsof in form ation and opin ions com in g fromall

m em bers ofthe fam ily, but on ly lim ited in tra-fam ilial discussion by m em bers

as equals. In stead, in form ation

and

opin ion s are weighed by powerful fam ily

m em bers who m ake up their m inds and im pose their decisions.

20

Of the m ain agrarian collective actors m entioned (hacienda and ranch

dwellers, m in e and

obraje

workers,

and

peasant com m unities) on ly peasan t

villages developed well-established local public spheres. Unions were

prohibited

in

haciendas, factories

and

m in es,

and the

fact

that

workers lived

on the land o f the owners lim ited open discussion between m em bers of the

collectivity. Instead, discussion was in form al, with no forum to collectively

focus

on a

sin gle

issue

and to sound

out

a collective

will.

Discussion am ongst

equals operated as rum or, while public life was dom inated by ritual and by

centrally controlled form s of publicity.

In m ost peasant com m unities we have both a ritualized display of

com m un ity an d a local public sphere. This public sphere has had various

types of com position s, and we have in stitutions such as town m eetings,

m eetin gs

of the juntas de mejoras,

the Lion 's Club or the

asociaciones de

padres defamilia, thatserve asforum s of discussion . Discrim ination by sex

in these forum s varies and has n ot yet received system atic attention from

either

anthropologists

orhistorians.

Although

my

im pression is that they

are

usually dom inated by

m en ,

there is also plenty o f fem ale participation , and

m any key in stan ces where wom en are the cen tral players.

21

But it m ust be

n oted that in addition to the various com m un ity-wide forum s there are sex-

specific forum s of discussion and debate, in cludin g such classical lower-

class forum s

as the

cantina

(bar)

for

men

and

thelavadero

(water-well or the

washing

area)

for wom en,

and these

should

alert us

to

the need

for describing

the genderedspaces o f discussion andtheirin ter-conn ection sinvarious local

contexts.

In sum , the institutional spaces that stand out as havin g been arenas of

discussion am ongst equals

are

associated

with

village

or urban

life.

The

bar,

the well, the village or school association , the

cofradia,

the Rotaries or the

townm eetin g allow forsomepublic discussion that m ay havebeensom ewhat

less lim ited by the strictures of fam ily authority on on e side, and state

authority on the other.

On the other hand, overall interconn ection s between the various local

and n ational public spheres have had six m ajor m om ents of transform ation

in

M exican history: (1 )In dependence and the constitution of a national public

sphere, (2)the birth of m odern industry during the Porfiriato, (3)thc

incorporation ofaworker's sectorto thereignin gpartyaftertheRevolution ,

(4) the em ergence of m iddle-class professional groups (first m ajor

28 journ al of latin a me rle an anthropology


10/28

m an ifestation of which were the doctors' strikes in 1964-65), (5)the

em ergen ce of

an

independent

union

m ovem ent (1970s), (6)

the

em ergen ce of

social m ovem ents that do not explicitly represent class interests but focus

rather on selected issues such as housing, wom en 's rights, and defense

again st developm ent projects.

Although Ihave nospace to detail each o f these developm ents here, a few

considerations on the transform ation of the public sphere are n eeded. First,

with Independence, a national public sphere em erged for

the

first tim e, with

the com m ercial press and congress as its two m ain forum s. This tran sition

m eant that arbitration from the political cen ter was n o longer the on ly, or

even n ecessarily

the main

way o f arguing

for the

rightsof a collective actor.

Instead of m erely expressin g

the

collectivity's inclusion

in the realm

by way

of the m ain fiestas, these collectivities som etim es found their fundam ental

usos ycostumbres(traditionalrights)beingdebated andchangedin then ew

national public sphere. This was notably the case of indigenous

com m un ities, whose traditional institution s cam e under attack alm ost

im m ediately after Independence,

and

who lost m ost of their legal protection

by the m iddle o f the century.

Moreover, m ost of the collective actors o f the period were illiterate and

lacked property

and

other characteristics that were deem ed cen tral to bein g

a citizen. Because of

this,

the

ritualized

represen tation of

a

n ation al order

con tin ued to

be

of cen tral sign ifican ce, although

Liberal

governm ents fought

hard to wrench this system of representation out of the hands of the church

and into those of civil authorities. This process was politically painful and

wasnever achievedin its

entirety.

I would argue that the difficultywas in part

due to the fact that the civilframeworksetupby Liberals had n o room for

form ally recogn izin g m any of the collective actors who were on the scen e,

whereas these had previously been acknowledged in the organization of

cofradias,

in the com m em oration of

patron

sain ts, and in m ajor religious

fiestas such as Corpus Christi and Easter.

In

other words, the creation of a

n ational public sphere, fictitious

and

highly im perfect though it was, was

a real threat for the traditional status of collective actors since it set up an

arena where

new

rules could be

m ade

that

affected

the

very acknowledgm ent

of the collectivities in question .

The secon d sign ifican t poin t to n ote regards the form ation of a m odern

proletariat and its historical conn ection s to a public sphere. In the in itial

phases o f m odern ization , the Mexican proletariat found very little room for

expression or represen tation in govern m ent. Proletarian public spheres did

em erge, however,

around trade

un ions and

with the

help of the penn y-press,

and it produced two of M exico's m ost n oteworthy in tellectuals, n am ely,

Ricardo

Flores Magon and Jos6

Guadalupe Posada. In other words, the early

stages o f m odern ization - especially in m in ing and in tex tiles - saw the

ritual,



11/28

con stitution of proletarian collective actors and the articulation of the

proletariat to the national public sphere, although both of these processes

were hindered by state repression as well as by low literacy rates and by the

m any social ties that the Mexican proletarians have m ain tain ed with n on -

proletarian kin sm en and friends.

After the 1910 Revolution, such proletarian organization s and voices

found m uch support from governm ent, which took a lead in organ izing and

coordin atin g a union con federation first the CROM and later the CTM,

which still hobbles alon g today.

This

process, however, also led to

the

form al

inclusion of un ion s in to the official party apparatus, a situation that

ultim ately weakened that class' internal public spheres, and com prom ised

proletarian inclusion in civic, non-govern m ental forum s. A com parable

process occurred

with

peasan ts who,

thanks to the

political strings

that

were

attached to land reform , were effectively incorporated in to the state's

m asses. Thus we get relatively weak conn ection s between these two

classes and the n ational public sphere. This m ean t that these collectivities

m aintain ed arbitrated

andritualized

relation ships with the state that were in

som e respects com parable to those

that

existed in

the

colon ial era, except for

the

fact that

the

state -

through

a particularly

rich

developm ent of nation alist

m ythologywas able to wren ch m ost of these

ritual

fun ctions away from the

church.

The first collective actors to run headlong again st this neo-baroque

system were from the new m iddle classes. Pozas Horcasitas (1993) has

describedthisprocessin hisstudy ofthem edical doctors' m ovem ent of early

sixties. These doctors cared little for Revolutionary rhetoric. They had

already been trained in a fully m odern era, and expected the benefits of

m odernity without

the

form s of

state

tutelage

that had been

im posed

on

m ost

peasant

and

workin g class collectivities. They also expected to control their

in ternal discussions and to have access to the m edia of the national public

sphere: the press and public policy m akers.

Thegovernm ent showedadistin ct un willin gn essto open uptothesenew

political actors, either by way o f concedin g a fortified in ternal collective life

or by givin g greater freedom of access to m edia and policy-m akin g.

Repression of the em ergin g m iddle classes occurred during the m edical

strike (1964-1965), and culm in ated in the student m assacres of 1968 and

1971, after which point the governm ent proceeded to develop pragm atic

n egotiation s as well as a series of political reform s.

These m iddle class pressures (m ovem ents o f doctors, school teachers,

students, paren ts' association s, etc.) grew in tandem

with the

developm ent of

the so-called

new

social m ovem ents that

were

no

longer

strictly class based

and were n ot directed toward the control or redistribution of the ben efits of

production , but cen tered rather on the conditions o f reproduction: housin g,

30 journa l of latin am^rlcan anthropology


12/28

urban services, pollution control, schooling, parks, transportation costs,

wom en 's rights, etc.

It isim portant tosay, withregard to these m ovem ents, thatmanyof them

are not new in a strict sense. For instan ce, Castells (1983) has described a

ren ters' strike in Veracruz in 1915. What is n ew about the m ovem ents

beginn ing roughly in the 1970s is (1) their scale, which reflects the

vertigin ous growth of

cities,

particularly Mexico City, (2) the diversification

of dem ands on governm ent as an in stitution responsible for providin g an

ever-expan din g set of services and form s of social protection , (3) that these

m ovem ents were less

amenable

tocentralized control

than either labor

or the

peasant m ovem ent, (4) that, bein g goal oriented, these m ovem ents som etim es

lacked m echan ism s for defin in g participants as stable m em bers of

collectivities. This fin al poin t m eant that m ovem ents usually jelled around

leaders and issues and could die down to such an extent that they defined a

generationrather than a collectivity that reproduced through tim e.

All o f these conditions together m eant

that

the new social m ovem ents

had enorm ous potential for widenin g the national public sphere, sin ce they

were not easily in corporate to the sectorial apparatus of the official party

and the state.The com bin ation of these variegated pressures, including those

from professional and proto-professional m iddle-classes and n on -

incorporated un ion s and peasan t com m un ities, forced the state to develop

n ew strategies of encom passm ent and in clusion , as well as an expan sion of

access to the n ation al public sphere.

I have provided a historical overview of Mexico's m ain collective

actors and have poin ted to their in ternal forum s of discussion and to their

con n ections tothe state throughritual,closed-door discussion and decision-

m aking, and the n ational public sphere. In addition, I have given som e

elem ents with which to im agin e these various collectivitiesintheir regional

location s. It is in conn ection to these factors that a profitable discussion of

the place and role of political

rituals

can take place.

political ritualinnational and regional space

A poignant in troduction to the role ofritualn consolidatin g Mexican

political com m un ities

can be

found

in the

early con tact period, which was a

tim e when the capacity for dialogue between Span iards and Indians was

m in im al, and powerful in terests were vested in m ain tain in g som e

m iscom m unication between them .

22

At

that

tim e,aFranciscan Friar, Jacobo

deTestera, sought to createanatm osphere

that

was propitious forthe rapid

conversion of Indians, an atm osphere that would n ot require exten sive

com m un ication between Indians and priests. For this purpose he created a

form of pictographic writin g wherein icons were to be spoken out in

ritual,rumor an d corruption In m x lco 31


13/28

indigenous tongues, while the sounds that were thereby emitted

approximated those of the Latin orations of the M ass. Through a mock form

of reading, Teste ra put Christian orationsinthe Indians' m ouths. They read

out flag and prickly pear (pantli,

noxtli);

he heard som ething quite like

Pater

noster

and this misunderstanding allowed both parties to

participate in a critical comm unitarian ritual. T hus, at a time when there was

no public sphere in M exico, before the existence of a national language o r

even of a coherent project for a national language, rituals were a fundamental

arena for constructing political boundaries and relations of domination and

subordination within the polity.

24

Gruzinski (1990) has written extensively on the crucial significance of

non-discursive forms of communication in the conquest and colonization of

the Indians. He has shown the centrality of icons in this communicative

process, and has even spoken of a war of images. At the level of images,

and especially in ritual, pragmatic accommodations between participants

occur without any necessary accommodation at the level of formally stated

policy or discourse . This sort of politics pragmatic accom modation while

formally adhering to a discursive orthodoxy has been insistently remarked

upon by observers of Mexico, some of whom trace its beginnings to Hernan

Cortes, whose dictum to King Charles I obey but I do not com ply has

become famous.

Th is profoundly anti-dialogic trend did not die along with the Counter-

Reformation. Mexico's Enlightenment and Positivist eras were also

characterized by the use of modernity as a discourse more than a s a set of

adopted practices.

25

Generally speaking, anthropologists and historians have

recognized that Mexico has a legalistic, formulaic tradition that is combined

with keen political pragm atism, a pragmatism that has often been com pared

to Machiavelism.

26

The flexibility lacking at the level of formal political

discourse and discussion appears in political practice, and these

accommodations are enacted in ritual and its imagery. Correspondingly, the

study of ritual allows us to witness the ideological articulations of a society

that has always been both highly segmented, and systematically

misrepresented in formal discourse.

In sum, ritual is a critical arena for the construction of pragmatic

political accomm odations whereno

open,

dialogic, forms of communication

and decision-making exist. In other words, there is an inverse correlation

between the social importance of political ritual and that of

the

pub lic sphere.

Moreover,onecould add a culturalist argument to this sociological one: once

the Spaniards abandoned all serious attempts to truly convince and

assimilate Indians to their society, certain aesthetic forms were developed

(the baroque sensibility ), and these became values that permeated th e

society deeply, affecting family relations, forms of etiquette,

and

other social

32 Journal of latin am er ica n anthropology


14/28

form s

in all

social

strata.

Thus Mexicanritual

and

ritualismwould havedeep

sociological and cultural roots.

However, this very general appreciation

is

merely

a

starting

poin t,

for in

order to organ ize the variegated literature on political ritual and,

furtherm ore, to propose

an

agenda for future research, we n eed to arrive at

a m ore precise form ulation of the specific sorts of political work

that

ritual

does and has done in different regional and historical con texts. I focus on

three m ain poin ts here.

First,

I

arguethatpoliticalritualreflects

the

dialecticsof opposition and

appropriation between state agencies and collectivities. This point leads us

awayfroma sim ple opposition between popular and stateritual.Second, I

shall discuss som e of the intercon n ections between ritual and rum or.

Specifically, I shall argue that both ritual and rum or can be seen as

occupyin g spaces of expression that cann ot

find

other ways into the public

sphere. Ritual can serve as a way of constructing a high level of region al

in tegration with on ly a m inim um substratum of com m on culture and,

especially, of discussion . This view leads us awayfromookin g at M exican

history as a sim ple secular process towards dem ocracy and m odernity.

Finally, I shall discuss the con n ection s between

ritual

and corruption. This

poin t helps

us

understand

the

ways

in

which the state is locally appropriated

and in which a hegem on ic order is constituted.

ritual and the expansion ofstate institutions

A good starting point is to pair the relationship between Foucaultian

institutions and

their

techniques of bodily disciplin e with

rituals

that aim to

construct

an

im age of con sen susaround

a

notionof

'the

people'{e lpueblo).

In a study o f the history of patriotic festivals in the state ofPuebla(1900-

1940),

Vaughn (1994) shows that the in terconnection between schools and

festivals passed through two stages. During the Porfiriato, festivals were

organized by the local jefe politico with the aid of the local elite of

hacendados, ranchers and n otables. The system of schooling m ain ly catered

to the n otable fam ilies an d, to a lesser extent, inhabitants of the m ain

cabeceras,

but decidedly excluded the rural and poor m ajority. After the

Revolution , the strength of schools was underm ined con com itan tly with the

stren gthen ing of the agrarian com m unity

and the

weakening of the region al

elites. Schoolteachers

did not

have

the

coercive power that ihejefespoliticos

had, so they could n ot organ ize local work-parties in support of the school

and

federal funds

were

insufficien t.

This

situation began to turn

aroundin the

1930s through the revival of the patriotic fiesta by the teachers, who used

com petitive sports as theirmaindraw.These sporting com petition s becam e

a

venue

for local social life

as

well

as

for traditional form s of com petition

and

ritual, rumor and corruption In m xlco 33


15/28

sociability between villages and

barrios.

As a result, local agrarian

com m un ities vied for gettin g schools built and provided the badly n eeded

support for their sustenance.

Hen ce perhaps the m ost fundam ental m odern in stitution of discipline

and

un iform ity,

the

school, spread not

so much as a result

of state im position

as by its own capacity

to bridge and

reconcile

state plans

with various form s

of local politics. The school becam e, in fact,analternative arena for givin g

m ateriality and visibility to local com m unities in a way that is an alogous to

the role that the church had played in the colon ial period, and ritual (the

patriotic festival, with its attractive sports features) played a central role in

the expansion of schools just as the religious fiesta, with its secular

attractions, was cen tral to the expansion of the church.

Thus Vaughn provides a clue for understanding the ways in which the

Revolutionarystatesucceeded in takin g represen tational fun ction sover from

the

church.

In the

Porfirian

arrangem ent,

schools and patriotic festivals were

m ainly organized by and for regional elites, while the church still provided

the broadest arena forthepolitical assertion of collective force in its fiestas.

It is on ly aftertheRevolution,with thedeclinein thecoercive power of local

politician s and the in troduction of com petitive sports (which were cheaply

available to everyone), that the civic fiesta becam e a forum in any way

com parableto thechurch fiesta an d, interestin gly, it is on lyatthis point that

rural school teachers m usteredthelocal support they needed to really expand

the school system with the tight budgets that they have always had.

In

other

words, state in stitution s expand in a fashion that is dependent on the local,

region al an d n ational politics of culture. The institution s that create an idea

of sim ultan eous n ational developm ent are also constrain ed by the various

local cultural and political forces.

The results of this situation have varied historically as the force of

m odern institution s has grown , but overall they m ay be synthesized as

follows: n ational reality in Mexico, public opin ion and national sentim ent

still have public popular

ritual

as their fundam ental forum , an d the leveling

m edia of the bourgeois public sphere (schools, n ewspapers,television ,

parliam ent) have generally been used as a tool for providin g a discursive

in terpretation and solution to theritualm an ifestation s of popular will.

Eviden tly, this situation is deeply interm ingled

with

the lack o f a form al

dem ocracy

in

M exico, but

it

would

be a deep

m istake to attribute

this

lack o f

dem ocracy exclusivelyto adictatorial im positionfrom thepresiden cy, sin ce

authoritarianism isthe product of com plex in tercon n ections between various

local, n ation al and international forces. Moreover, there has been lon g-

standin g cultural accom m odation to these circum stan ces, such that

established form sforexpressin g political dem ands, for interpretin g them and

for resolving them do exist.

34 Journal of latin am ^rican anthropology


16/28

These form s of political expression and of con flict resolution are

m ultiple,sincethey m ust respond toneeds a tvarious points in n ational space

and, because of this variety, they do not lend them selves to be easily

shoehorned in to a single constitutional

order.

O n th e

con trary, the system of

m ediation /representation that was handed downfromthe colonial period is

better suited as a m odel for this situation, sin ce it allows greatflexibilityn

the consideration of th e specific n eeds of in dividuals and collectivities (it

institutionalizes a n exceptionalism a n d still

provides

a n outlet for collective

representations.

This does n o t m ean , however,that th e roleof politicalritualhasmoreor

less rem ained constant in Mexico since the baroque era. I am n ot even

im plyin g, as

P a z

(1982)

h a s

done, that

t h e

Revolution allowed for a

return

to

the wom b of the baroque. Neither does m y argum ent im ply a sim ple

substitution of

church

ritual

by state

ritual.

I believe that cults o f various

saints still uphold a standard of com m unity and acertainpurity o fmotive v i s -

a-visstaterituals,and they m ust therefore be taken account for in political

an alysis. I sim ply m ean that the system of political and cultural

representation of th e baroque n eeds to be seriously considered in order to

understand t h e role of politicalritualtothis d a y , and that thisi sdue to the fact

that religious a n d civic

ritual

sa keyt o understandingth e expansion of state

institutions in Mexico.

I shall n ow

turn

t o t h e significance of

ritual

n th e articulation of various

collectivities in to a hegem onic order. My argum ent is presen ted in two

stages. First, Idiscuss the con n ection s between

ritual,

rumor a n d the public

sphere. In that section I shall argue that the social salience o f rum or in

Mexico m akes

ritualized

public m anifestations

into

th e prim ary sign s of the

public sphere. Finally, I shall conclude with a discussion of the con n ection

betweenritualand local appropriation s o f the state.

r u m o r r it u a l a n d t h e p u b l ic s p h e r e

In our discussion of the spatial and class distribution of public spheres,

I argued that there were various social organization al form s and collective

actors that h a d n o in ternal public spheres, n o forum for

open

discussion and

evaluation of decision -m akin g processes.Thisdoesn o t im ply,however, that

com m unication

does

n o t

exist

within

these groups, or that they

a r e

incapable

of constitutin g a gen eral public sen tim ent. It m eans, sim ply, that public

sen tim ent is form ed in com m un icative contexts other than those of an open

dialogic public sphere.

Hierarchical organization s such as land holdin g fam ilies, hacien das, or

factories did not have internal public spheres, and neither could their

individual m em bers freely participate in a n ational public sphere sin ce they

h a d highly restricted

access

tot h e

m edia.

In these organization s,

opinion

was

ritual, rumor and corruption In mxlco 35


17/28

formed in the sort of context that Erving Goffinan has called a back-stage

91

:

in the kitchen, in the washroom, while bending down to plant or pick, in the

market place, orsotto vocein the anonymity of a crowd.

These a re the spaces where information flows. Because these spaces are

backstage , they are typically seen as subversive of official truths as well as

of the national public sphere, and they are correspondingly feminized. Th us,

in Mexico frank, open talk at public meetings is often contrasted to

washer-woman's gossip

(chismes de lavadero o de asotea).

Political

dialogue is characterized as manly (direct, open, rational), whereas rumor

is cowardly (it occurs behind one's back) and considered wom en's ta lk

(chisme de viejas). Evidently this form of mapping gender onto the

frontstage/backstage relationship between public spheres and the multi-

stranded currents of rumor should be understood firstly as a ploy for

undermining the validity of rumor and it should not be taken a s ade facto

correspondence between a masculine/feminine dichotomy and public sphere/

rumor. The same rumors that are feminized and called washer-w om en's

go ssip one day can be hailed as the sentiments of the nation the next day.

Moreover, backstage communication is not only engaged in by women ju st

as women engage in the national public sphere (although usuallyinmarkedly

different contexts than men).

Itisuseful to think of rum or as following the negative mold of the various

public spheres that we have discussed. W herever civic discussion and open

argument is precluded by the asymmetries of power, alternative

comm unicative relationships emerge and rumor predominates. In M exico the

national public sphere has never achieved widespread respectability and

credence; too many voices are excluded from it. Because of this, people

always prefer a personal source of information

( gossip )

to merely an

official one.

27

This situation leads to Mexico's classical legitimacy crisis: how to

interpret, conform or channel what Jose Maria Morelos called '*the

sentiments of the nation. Intellectuals have had a leading role in filling this

communicationalvoid,jus t as newspapers have become a privileged media

for the interpretation of national sentiment. At the same time, intellectuals,

like the oracles of old, need signs. Going out and asking citizens in a

systematic fashion was always seen as problematic, and has only begun

gaining some ground in recent years.

28

This is because the poll involves

making the backstage front stage. In other words, it involves constructing a

free-flowing, confessional relationship between citizens and the state, a

relationship that involves a corresponding notion of governmental

accountability. Since this accountabilityisnot readily forthcoming, a candid

relationship is not buildable except in cases where citizen s feel

that

they

have little to loose and perhaps something to gain.

36 Journal of latin arrw ican anthropology


18/28

The sign s that intellectuals and politician s read are therefore com plex,

sin ce political m an ifestation s are interpreted m ain ly in their expressive and

sym ptom atic dim ensions. Hencethework of in terpreting n ational sentim ent

does

not end with the

gathering of opinions, for opin ion s

that are

unlinked to

action, opinionsthat have nopractical consequence,areeasily discounted as

wom en 's

gossip or talk.

The

true

n ational sen tim ent is only m ean in gful

in conn ection to public action , to political ritual.Isayritualherebecausethe

weakn ess of M exico's n ational public sphere guarantees

that

political even ts

will be interpreted sym bolically, with expressive dim ensions coun tin g at

least as m uch as instrum ental ones.

29

Moreover, significan t differences em erge between political m an ifesta-

tion s that are geared to the m edia and political m an ifestations that are

oriented to direct action in sm aller-scale collectivities. Interesting in this

respect

is the

use o f m asks in

two recentcases,

that of Superbarrio

in

Mexico

Cityand thatof the neo-Zapatistas in Chiapas. The use of m asks allows for

a m ore abstract identification of a m ovem ent with the people. As such its

points can be put forward in a clearer way to the public and the specter of

cooptation of

a

specific leader or of

a

sm all con stituency dim inishes.

In

effect

the masks are aBrechtiansortof m ove, effacin gtheindividualandstressing

the social persona via a reliance on im ages derived from the m ass-m edia.

This is en tirely different from ritualized social m ovem ents that are not

directed to the m edia ofthenational public sphere, for exam ple in sm all

town s. In those

cases,

the people

are

represented directly by

known

people,

anditis thepresence of particularindividuals thatcon vin cesothersto join in

the m ovem ents. Correspondingly, these m ovem ents are not m ediated by a

national public sphere. They are direct expressions of local public spheres

and, although at tim es they seek support from national m edia and public

opin ion , they do n ot usually entertain high hopes for the efficacy of these

m ediations.

Also interesting is

the usage

of inversions o f public

and

dom estic realm s

in m ediated versus face-to-face m ovem ents.

30

Whereas in local m ovem ents

these sorts of inversions

are

direct

appeals

to revolt,

in

m ediated m ovem ents

they serve as poin ted appeals to public opin ion and are thusgestures of

revolt. Thus, m iddle and upper class wom en take to the streets of Mexico

City to protest the con struction of a highwayorto protest the high costs of

a devaluation . Sim ilarly, ranchers from the Altos de Jalisco filled

Guadalajara's central square with tractors in protest again st n ew

agricultural policies. These sorts of inversions are subversive in sm aller

com m un ities, where local public opin ion is im m ediately swayed by them .

For exam ple, when womentookto thestreetsinTepoztlan in 1978, the m en

backedthem andtookover them unicipal presidency;when theCham ulas in

19th century Chiapas appropriated the Christfigureout of the church, they

ritual, rumor and corruption In mexlco 37


19/28

revolted and laid a siege on ladino Ciudad Real (San Cristobal). In the

m ediated urban context (which is an ever-growing field , given the curren t

expansion ofthe n ational

public

sphere in to ever-deeper levels of the region al

system ) inversions are directed as appeals to a public sphere that will then

exert pressure on governm ent by n on-violent m eans.

In sum , whereas m any collectivities are routinely recogn ized and

reconstituted in rituals

that

substitute an internal public sphere, therea r e also

political m an ifestation s of public sen tim ent that are created in backstage

con texts, socialized through rum or, and converted in to specific m ovem ents

that are rightly analyzable as ritual because their significance is

system atically re-in terpreted and given a certain directionality in the public

sphere.

The centrality o f ritual in the con stitution of polity can therefore be

understood in t w o dim ensions. Ont h e o n e hand, rituals canb eexpressions of

collective vitality and interests within the sanction ed political order. O n the

other hand, public political m an ifestations are understood as expression s of

a public sentim ent that i sconstructed int h e backstage,a n d thath a s therefore

not (yet) been harnessed by the state. This second dim ension m ean s that

political m ovem ents are heavily ritualized. They are in fact the m ain signs

that political interpreters read.

31

c o r r u p t i o n a n d r i t u a l

I have thus far suggested three im portant roles that ritual has in the

constitution of political com m unities in M exico. O n the m ost general level,

ritual is crucial because social segm entation a n d power relations underm ine

m echanism s for dialogic understanding and negotiation between membersof

the national com m unity. Secon dly, ritual has been strategically utilized to

construct alliances between local collectivities and state and church. The

dialectics of this process involve com petition or struggle between

collectivities or classes, a n d allianceswith stateo rchurcha r e used t o further

local in terests in those struggles. Fin ally, I have suggested that ritual is

critical to t h e constitution of a nationalpublic sphere i n a n authoritarian state

because it is th e principal

sign that

interpreters read, occupying a role that is

an alogous to that of the poll a n d thatis n o less m an ipulatable). In this final

section

I

shall providesomeconsiderations on

t h e

relation ship between ritual

and corruption in the Mexican system .

The problem of corruption needs to be understood on three levels: first,

on a function al level (what it does for governm ent, individual participan ts

and victim s); secon d, at the level of accusation s (what a discourse of

corruption does in the world of politics); and third, at the level o f the m oral

sen sibility o f a people (how discourses and practices of corruption affect

personal attitudes, definitions ofself, and how is corruption cleansed or

38 Journal of latin am or lcan anthropology


20/28

avoided).

Throughout Mexican

history,

corruption

has

con sisted of appropriating

portion s o f state or church m achinery for private benefit and (arguably) to

the detrim ent of the state's in terest as well as to those of n on -fun ctionaries

(subjects or citizen s).

However,

these appropriations

serve various

fun ction s

and have varyin g im plications in the different periods. For exam ple,

throughout the colon ial period official governm ental posts were seen as

prizes that the crown handed down in recognition either of social proxim ity

or

of past favors, or else in exchange for

m oney.

Correspondingly, officials

were expected to profit from their posts, and were in n o sen se civil

servants. Acom parablesituation hasextended well intothem odern period.

On the other hand, because the church was the fundam ental arena for

collective expression and because it had its own independent sources of

taxation , corruption

in

the church was also im portant. Local con stituen cies

could at tim es play these two sets o f am bitions off again st each other.

Villagers participated fervently in theirfiestasn part as a show of allian ce

with the church that m ighttheninterveneintheir favor against the abuse of

landowners

or

officials.

On

the other hand, suits and revolts again st priests

were brought to civil authorities. Finally, local ritual could stand as an

affirm ation of local

rights

against

both church and

state,

both

of

whom

could

easily con spire again st the subaltern classes. Thusritualhada fundam ental

m ediatin g fun ction in

the

colon ial

period,

where

theboundaries,

stren gth and

rights of

a

collectivity could

be

expressed at

the

sam e tim e

that

alliances were

forged with the church or the state.

In this con text o f n egotiation , which survived the colon ial era albeit in

differen t term s, corruption was reflectedinwhat m ay be called an extended

cargo system . An thropologists have beenproneto take a n arrow view of

what religious cargos are about, stressin g their significan ce in indigen ous

com m unities

and their

lin ks to form s of prestige

that are

allotted on ly within

the lim its of traditional com m un ities. In fact, variations of cargo system s

exist and have existed throughout the n ational space, and the burden of

paying for celebration s has usually reflected

the

expected distribution of the

benefits of reign ing. So, for

exam ple,

Mexico City n otables

and

officers had

to

come up with money for all sorts

of com m em orations o f

the

royal fam ily's

affairs

as

well

as those

of

theviceroy.

32

On the other hand, sm aller villas and

pueblos had to in cur parallel expenditures to com m em orate

their saints

days,

etc.

But it was these very form s of public festival that also gave political

recogn ition to the

pueblos

and villas and allowed for the funneling of

resources to the com m unity leadership.

This sam e logic survived in to the n ational period. In Tepoztlan , for

instance, carn ival becam e the m ost expen sive and lavish fiesta and was

fundam entally bankrolled by the local n otables. This contrasted with the

ritual,



21/28

humble barrio fiesta, which was paid for by collective contributions. Local

notables funneled their money intocomparsasthat represented their barrio of

origin, encompassing only three of Tepoz tlan's seven or eight barrio s. Thus

notables created solidarity with poorer members of their barrios and

subsequently depended on this local basis of support to successfully control

municipal offices during

the whole

of the 19th and most of the 20th centuries

(Lomnitz-Adler 1982).

De la Pena (1980) has described how hacienda owners in the Morelos

Highlands buttressed their own popularity and that of the municipal notables

by contributing resources to the local fiesta. Finally, in Zinacantan, the

classic and much debated instance of the so-called traditional cargo

system , Cancian (1992) has shown that financing local fiestas was a crucial

item of prestige and local power for many years, and that the system only

came into crisis when the local economy diversified and the population grew,

creating a split between the older peasant notables and younger capitalist

entrepreneurs. The elders have kept the young generation from sponsoring

the fiestas, andthecargo systemh stherefore declined as a locus of political

expression.

This correlation between financing festivities and reapingthebenefits of

the state (or of appropriating local branches of the state) has a marked

parallel with the ways in which the PRI's political campaigns have been

financed. Calculating costs of official party campaigns is practically

impossible in Mexico because instead of working with a centralized coffer

and budget, campaign costs are diffused amongst supporters, all of whom

either benefit or hope to benefit from the state, and m ost of whom appropriate

their local state resources for the purpose of supporting the campaign. So,

for example, governors and municipal presidents use up their budgets to

show their personal support of a presidential candidate and through that

personal support, the support of the collectivities to which they are linked.

Union leadership that has had privileged support from government uses

union funds and working hours to support the candidate.

33

Ontheother hand,

as inthefiesta, participants in campaign events are also meant to ga in things

for themselves: a day off from work, free food, a fiesta, or at least a renewed

relationship with their immediate patron.

Thus political ritual is tied to corruption because much of the financing

of ritual reflects the actual or expected ways in which local leaders and

communities appropriate portions of the state apparatus. They are

enactments both of personalized state redistribution and of the pow er of the

whole constituency vis-a-vis the more abstract national state.

But the connection between fiesta and corruption does not end here for

most fiestas com bine a controlled and an unrestricted aspect.Themascaras

40 Journal of latin arrw ican anthropology


22/28

a lo serioanda lofaceto are

exam ples of this

in

colon ial pagean try, but the

situation is alm ost entirely gen eralizable: solem n m asses are followed by

mole, drinking and dancing; carnival ends with the High Mass of Ash

Wednesday; political rallies typically are followed by free-flowing stream s

of alcohol. Even the

most

apollon ianrituals,

such

as

the

on ce popular oratory

contests

had

certain frothy in terstices while secular festive even ts such

as

the

bullfight orthecockfight tended to receivea certain amountof governm ental

supervision , with form al m om ents where this supervision was asserted.

This com bin ation of political control and unrestrained popular

expression m ade the

fiestas

places where a certain com plex hegem ony was

enacted, for popular expression was at once unrestrained and en com passed

by

the

authorities. This is the m ost subtle sense in which political

ritual

can

be said to be tied to the history of corruption:

fiestas

assert the sign ificance

of

a

collectivity vis-a-vis the

state and as

such they

have been used

to jockey

for position in the n ational m ap. On the other hand, on ce a collectivity is

receivingsomebenefits fromthestate, on ce theyhave aleaderor aclass that

appropriates the state and represen ts it locally, these leaders

are

expected to

foot the bill o f m uch political ritual, for the ritual will serve as a

m anifestation ofthecollectivity's con tinued vitalityto higherofficials. Thus

fiestas

are

usually

signs

both of the vitality o f

thepeople

and of

the

state .

Corruption underwrites this whole relationship because the state is on ly

extended into these collectivities on the condition that it be locally

appropriated (usually by local elites) and that som e o f the ben efits of this

appropriation spill over to the rest of the local population .

Fin ally, rituals presen t popular m oral standards regarding corruption .

Un generous leaders

areshunned,

as

are leaders who do notfinancefiestas

or

do n ot recogn ize or acknowledge their own people.

34

Ingeneral an ethics of

respect, gen erosity, and com m union are en acted, and these values provide

the

rudim ents of a technology

that is used for

articulating

the

national polity.

In this respect, the Catholic ritual stan ds as a standard that con tin ually

haunts the politician. These pervasive conn ections between ritua l and

corruption, bothin relation tolocal appropriation s o fstatem achinery and in

the

con struction of an

ethics

of

thoseappropriations,

dem onstrate

the

critical

sign ifican ce of the study of ritua l for understanding hegem ony in the

Mexican n ational space.

c o n c l u s i o n

I have explored

the

conn ection between

ritual

and

political com m un ities

by looking at the geography of public spheres developm entally. In the

process, I have suggested relationships between rum or, ritual and

ritual,



23/28

corruption . This an alysis leads us away from three trends in the study of

political ritual. The first is the on e thatdivides ritualsim plyintostatist versus

popular; the second is the trend that tries to construct a secular progress

between pre-m odern ritual and m odern dem ocracy. Again st the first

position , the perspective developedherestresses the dialectics of opposition

and appropriation between state agencies and various collectivities. This

dialectic affects both the constitution of subjectivities by the state and the

ways in which state in stitutions

are

locally

appropriated.

Against

the

second,

our perspectivestresses thepersisten t obstacles tothe creationofabourgeois

public sphere

in

Mexico. Our m odern ity contin ues

to

segm en t

and

to exclude

large num bersfromthe prom ised benefits of citizenshipandm odernization ,

and this has allowed for a contin uous re-constitution of a ritual life that has

its origin s in the baroque era.

33

For these reasons, the specter o f

anAncien

Regimeseem s never to die in Mexico; it survived the 1857 con stitution , it

survived the Revolution , and it m ay even survive the current n eo-liberal

period. The regional study of ritual offers a way of specifying these

relationship, a way of understanding their historical evolution, and of

clarifyin g the nature of social change in the polity.

Finally, a third position that m ust be m odified is the on e that seeks to

synthesize national culture by way of the study of national rituals. Our

contribution to this perspective is to showthesign ifican ce of developing an

overall geography of ritual as a n ecessary

priorstep.Once this

is done (and,

evidently, this paper isonly abeginn ing ofsuch ageography),thesocial and

political referen ts o f rituals can be clarified and placed in their proper

perspective. Since our fundam ental thesis is that political ritual is

substituting for arenas of discussion and argum entation, creating hegem onic

idiomsof agreem ent betweenvariousand diverse poin ts o f view (cultural and

political), the study of these rituals can serve as an entry to understanding

hegem ony geographically,

but

they

cannot be

used

to

hom ogenize the culture

of their participants in any sim ple way.

notes

1.

The role of ritual in the construction o f a n ation al polity is a venerable line o f in quiry, with W olf

(195 8) and Turner (1974)

as

the m ost prom inent foundin g an cestors. The role of ritual

in

the con solidation

of local com m un ities has received m uch m ore atten tion, notably in argum ents over W o lf s typology of

peasan t com m un ities, as well as in debates over the so-called cargo system (cf. Cancian 19 63 , 19 92;

Sm ith 197 7) and in studies on the con n ections between ritual and local politics (cf. De la Pena 198 0;

Lom n itz-Adler 198 2). In terest in political ritual has also em erged in ethnographies of various dim en sion s

of M exican urban life (cf. Velez-Ibaflez 1983 ; LL om n itz 1987b) and in the anthropology o f social

m ovem en ts (cf. Alon so 1986; Mon sivais 1987). Finally, there is also work on p olitics as spectacle an d on

the role of m yth and ritual in bureaucracy (cf. Lom n itz, Lom n itz-Adler an d Adler 19 94 ; Ruy Sa n chez

1981).

In

the past decade or so , interest

in

these fields has also gain ed prom inence am ongst historian s, wh o

have atten ded sim ilar them es in various periods and regions (cf. Be ezley et al. 1 99 4; Oruzin ski 19 90 ;

Joseph and Nu gen t 19 94 ; Viqueira 198 7). These titles are only a sam ple of the literature.

4 2 Journal of latin am orlc an anthropology


24/28

2 .

By 'public sphere'Im ean arealm ofoursocial life in w hich som ething approaching public opin ion

can be form ed Access is guaranteed to all citizens. A portion o fthe public sphere com es

into

being in every

con versation in which private in dividuals assem ble to form a public body. They then behave n either like

busin ess or professional peop le tran sacting private affairs, n or like m em bers of a con stitutional order

subject to the legal con strain ts of a state bureaucracy. Citizen s behave as a public body wh en th ey con fer

in an unrestricted fashi on - that is, with the guarantee o f freedom of assem bly an d association an d the

freedom to expressandpublish their opin ion s- aboutmattersof gen eral interest. Ina large public b ody this

kind of com m un ication requires specific m eans for transm itting inform ation and influen cing those w ho

receive it Today n ewspapers and m agazines, radio and TV are the m edia of th e public sphere. (Elley

199 2:2 89) This Haberm asian n otion is useful not least because

it

presents

an

ideal type of com m un ication

again st which altern ative form s, such as the rituals and rum ors thatIshall discuss here, can be com pared.

3.

Inthis paper I em phasize on ly the m ethodological utility of this prem ise, sin ce it provides clues for

understandin g the spatial lo gic of civic

ritual.

However, the point has general theoretical significan ce, since

m ost anthropological work on political ritual fails to problem atize the spatial integration o f political

system s, and so an alyses o f political ritual tend t o be vague regardin g the precise relation ship betwee n

rituals an d the production of hegem on y.

4.

I in itiated an an alysis of Mexican cultural region s in Lom n itz (199 2a, b).

5. How ever, Gerhard (19 93 ) has shown the overlay that often occurred between pre-Colum bian and

colonial territorial organization. See also Carrasco (1967: 4) for this point, and Lockhart (1992) for the

prolon ged relevance o fthe pre-Hispan ic political system at local levels in the colon ial era.

6. Gerhard (19 93 :14 ) explains the evolution of these two term s. Initially,

corregidores

had exclusive

jurisdiction over Indian regions, and alcaldias mayores englobed Spanish towns. Gradually, the two

functions were fused an d the two titles becam e in terchan geable.

7. See Elliott (198 4:293 and 299).

8. These m on opolies were form ally recognized by the m id-eighteen th cen tury in the in stitution of th e

repartimiento de comercio.

9. De la Pefia (1 98 0) has shown how local Cestas were used to consolidate alliances between villagers

and priests.

10.

See Carrasco (19 67 : 10-1 7) for a discussion o f these.

11 .

For exam ple, see Lira's (19 83 ) work on the Indian

barrios

of Mexico City and Haskett's ( 19 91 )

work on colonial Cuernavaca.

12 .

Gerhard(1993:27)explainsthat [I]nthefirst ha lfofthe 17th cen tury, NuevaEspa fia wasina sense

urbanized, with com pact Span ish town s and cities and Hispanized Indian villages separated by vast

stretches of deserted lan d, a pattern visible today. Chevalier (19 70 ) has shown the way in which these

concentrations affected the consolidation of landed estates and rural production.

13 .

For a synthesis, see Brading (19 84 :40 0-4 09) .

14 .

For a history, see Macun e (197 8).

15 . Guerra (19 8 8) chapter 2 provides the critical description o f this system .

16 . The exception, of course, is in instances when regional elites appropriate state governm en ts in

opposition to cen tral power an d try to rally region al support again st the n ational state. This has occurred in

som e contexts and occasion s.

17 . A parallel argum en t could be developed to specify different sorts of cultural region s, ran gin g from

m inim al cultural region s (which in rural central M exico tended historically to be lower-level m arketin g

region s or endogam ousmunidpios), to m id-level regions based on identity between m inim al regions, to

m id-level cultural region s con structed out ofthe incorporation o f ow -level region s into powerful econ om ic

and political cores, to n ation al regions. These various kin ds ofcultural region s

are

characterized by variou s

form s of intern al cuhural diversity, m echanism s of distinction, cultural form s of inclusion and ex clusion ,

etc.

An d whereas som e o f these cultural region s are buttressed or even created by state power and policy,

others are n ot

18. See Viqueira (1 98 7) for a fascinating discussion o f som e ofth e transform ations of collective

participation in pub lic ritual durin g the 18th century.

19 . See L Lom n itz (198 7a) for a discussion o f fam ily ritual and its conn ection to form of intrafam ilial

com m un ication and decision -m aking in the twentieth century.

2 0 .

This is wh y LL om n itz (19 87 b), wh o has studied Mexican fam ilies of various social strata, in sists

on the sign ifican ce o f've rtic al' ties in that social organ ization al form .

ritual, rumor and corruption In mcxlco 43


25/28

2 1 . For exam ple, wom en have been quite vocal in Tepoztlan. So m uch so that the official party

organized asitsm ost m ilitan t branch a local organization kn ownasLaMujer Tepozteca. Friedrich (1 98 6)

m akes the poin t that wom en are able to publicly articulate opin ions that would get their m en killed. Th is

argum ent wou ld seem to be borne out by the historical work on rebellion in M exico (cf. Taylor 197 9).

22 . G reenblatt argues that the discourse of the m arvelous was used to avoid transcuhural

com m un ication in the contact period (19 92:13 5-6). Gruzinski (19 90 ) argues that attem pts to foster true

dialogue b etween priests and In dian s were m ore or less abandon ed in M exico c. 157 0. I have argued that

am bivalen ce towards com m un ication between urbanelites an d popular classes lie s at the heart of the history

of M exican anthropology (in press).

2 3 .

See Johnson (1987:15 ).

24 . So m uch so that all of the early ritualsandspectacles m ust be un derstood politically, in cluding early

theater, which w as oriented toward evangelization as well as to reform ulating po litical relation s. For

exam ple, the attackonpolygyn y in early colonial plays served both to teach about the sacram en t o f m arriage

and to underm ine Aztec political organization, which used m ultiple m arriages as an idiom of allian ce for

em pire-buildin g.

25.

See Guerre (19 88 v.

1:182-201).

See also the significance of lip service to dem ocracyinthe PRI's

19 88 presidential cam paign inLom n itz, Lom n itz-Adler and Adler (199 4). Escalan te (199 2) deals squarely

with this issue.

26 . Most prom inen tly by Paul Friedrich (1986 ).

27.

Ilya Adler's (19 86 ) study of the uses of the press in M exico's bureaucracy is sign ifican t in this

respect. He describes how bureaucrats con stantly presen t inform ation that they have read from the

n ewspapers either

as

their own personal interpretation or as com in g

from

a personal source. The backstage

has greater claim to truth than official, public renderings in M exico.

28 .

Nuestro Pais

is the first journal devoted to public opin ion in Me xico, an d polls on ly began fin ding

their wa y in to n ewspapers sin ce the 19 88 presiden tial cam paign.

29.

A full study of this phenom enon would have to focus on the press and its m anagem ent of public

m an ifestation s, a work that is yet to be done. However, exam ples and illustration s are easily available to

an y reader of the M exican press. In the past decadeorso ,crucial in stances of these processes have occurred

in the afterm ath of the 198S earthquake (what was the m ean ing of the popular and the govern m ental

reaction s to the disaster), durin g the CEU 's student m ovem en t, durin g the 1988 election s, after the

im prison m ent of La Quin a, after the assassinations of Cardinal Posada, Luis Don aldo Co losio and Jose

Fran cisco Ru iz Ma ssieu, durin g the Zapatista rebellion, an d after the devaluation on the peso in 1995 . All

of these events (an d an in fin ite n um ber of sm aller on es) are the foci of political con tention through the

interpretation oftheir

true

nature and m eaning. Anethn ographic description o fthe dyn am ics of political

interpretation durin g Mexican cam paigns can be found in L om n itz, Lom n itz-Adler and A dler (19 94 ) and

in Lom nitz (1992b) .

30.

The m ost striking exam ple of the distinction between directin g actions to public opin ion versus

directin g them at specific political targetsisthe ZapatistasinChiapas, who have e ssen tially foughtawar in

the m edia, and gain ed im portant trium phs through their

gesture

of arm ed revolt, and no t through actual

arm ed victories.

31 .

In this respect, our findings on the 1988 presidential cam paign are significant: political events and

public ritual produced a profusion of interpretation, m ean ing w as n ever obviousandreferents w ere alw ays

disputed. These processes of interpretation, which were triggered by am biguity o f inten tion as m uch as b y

a shared tradition of quasi-herm etic over-in terpretation, produces closed-door, back -stage pro cesses o f

n egotiation , the results of which are seen as post-hoc confirm ations of on e inter

Documents

Lomnitz-1995 -- Ritual Rumor and Corruption y