Manana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Jorge G. Castaneda (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 17, 2011

Why are Mexicans so successful in individual sports, but deficient in team play? Why do Mexicans dislike living in skyscrapers? Why do Mexicans love to see themselves as victims, but also love victims? And why, though the Mexican people traditionally avoid conflict, is there so much violence in a country where many leaders have died by assassination?

In this shrewd and fascinating book, the renowned scholar and former foreign minister Jorge Castañeda sheds much light on the puzzling paradoxes of his native country. Here’s a nation of 110 million that has an ambivalent and complicated relationship with the United States yet is host to more American expatriates than any country in the world. Its people tend to resent foreigners yet have made the nation a hugely popular tourist destination. Mexican individualism and individual ties to the land reflect a desire to conserve the past and slow the route to uncertain modernity.

Castañeda examines the future possibilities for Mexico as it becomes more diverse in its regional identities, socially more homogenous, its character and culture the instruments of change rather than sources of stagnation, its political system more open and democratic. Mañana Forever? is a compelling portrait of a nation at a crossroads.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This important book, by an exceptionally shrewd, sophisticated and deeply knowledgeable analyst, deserves a place on the short shelf of classics about modern Mexico that includes Alan Riding’s Distant Neighbors and Paz’s The Labyrinth of Solitude.” —Los Angeles Times

“Castañeda presents an impassioned and erudite case for a rethinking of old Mexican habits. His background makes him especially well positioned to explain his native land to an international audience.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“A revolutionary book about Mexico. . . . I never thought I would read a book by a Mexican that acknowledges that Mexicans have more to gain in venturing to America than U.S. dollars.” —Richard Rodriguez, The San Francisco Chronicle

“A lively and perceptive analysis of Mexican society. . . . [Castañeda] is an unusual and important voice in Mexico.” —The Economist

About the Author

Jorge G. Castañeda was born and raised in Mexico City. He received his B.A. from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from the University of Paris. He has been a professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., and a visiting professor at Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley. He was Mexico’s foreign minister from 2000 to 2003, and is now Global Distinguished Professor of Politics and Latin American Studies at New York University. He is a member of the board of Human Rights Watch and lives in New York and Mexico City.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (May 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780375404245
• ISBN-13: 978-0375404245
• ASIN: 0375404244
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #518,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Provocative and candid assessment of Mexico's democracy September 2, 2011

By Greg Schell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Jorge Castaneda's tome is both incisive and a bit maddening. Despite his academic background, the book reads a good deal like a series of stream of consciousness rants...many sweeping assertions buttressed only by anecdotal examples. There is a paucity of data or research supporting much of Castaneda's work. His writing style also is disjointed and frequently unfocused.

Nonetheless, Castaneda is a keen observer of Mexico's political environment and offers a unique perspective, having served as foreign minister under President Fox in addition to his many years as an academic in both Mexico and the U.S. With his liberal and progressive background, Castaneda was an odd appointment for the right-of-center Fox, but his inclusion in the Fox cabinet is clear from Manana Forever. Castaneda's passion is democracry, with a small "d," and he views the development of a viable two-party system in Mexico as imperative for Mexico to forever advance beyond "third world" status.

Despite its shortcomings, Manan Forever is probably the most candid discussion of the current state of Mexican politics from a Mexican perspective, as opposed to observations from political scientists and analysts outside the country. While a number of Castaneda's generalities deserve to be challenged, he succeeds in building a solid case for urgent changes in Mexico's political structure for the nation to finally emerge from its "Manana Forever" mindset.

39 of 51 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative but flawed... August 14, 2011

By Ginny

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is the latest work in a pseudo-psychological/cultural genre popularized by Mexican writers who rely mostly on their imaginations and back their interpretations with little or no empirical data. These authors have taken great liberties in speculating that the violent Spanish conquest and subsequent 300-year colonial domination of Mexico left deep, seemingly never-healing wounds in the hearts and minds of Indians and mestizos. Supposedly a culture of victimization emerged among the citizenry, exemplified by the wearing of invisible personality masks to conceal pain, distress, and feelings of inferiority. Unhealthy and self-destructive attitudes and behavioral patterns purportedly became central to the Mexican character, a development that damaged Mexico's prospects for success.
Castañeda continues the tradition of attributing endless negative value orientations to Mexicans as he gives credence to highly-suspect and controversial views that are rejected by most economists and other social scientists. His conclusions cannot be taken seriously because they (1) rest on the extremely shaky supposition that negative personality traits are found throughout Mexico and among all social and economic groups; (2) disregard the fact that traits attributed exclusively to Mexicans are actually universally found throughout the world, especially among peoples who live in economic contexts that manifest dependence, colonialism, and social marginalization; (3) explicitly or implicitly erroneously assume that the prosperity of other countries such as the United States must rest on a national characters imbued with wholly-positive cultural traits, and that, because of prevailing healthy values, the governments of these countries function efficiently and, as a matter of course, promote the common welfare; and (4) confuse cause and effect, assuming that negative economic and politically-related value orientations result in underdevelopment, when in reality it is underdevelopment that gives rise to negative traits.
It is regrettable that a political scientist who should know better has resorted to highly questionable cultural interpretations to explain complex problems that beset Mexico. The Mexican people, and readers in general, are not well served by this book.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking the societal and cultural rules August 5, 2011

By Edward Juline

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In this magnificent insight into the Mexican psyche, Jorge Castaneda, does exactly what he says one shouldn't do in Mexico, create conflict. I've already given a dozen copies of this book in English and Spanish to friends and relatives and it invariably gets the discussion's heated up. Although he does an excellent job of identifying the roots of the problems and even what needs to be done, I still see it as very challenging for the types of changes necessary to happen anytime soon. Culture is a slow moving boat where you can only really see the change in path from the back of the boat as the wake drifts to the left or right. If you have interest in Mexico, it's culture, it's people, or even doing business here, this is definitely in the top five of books to read.