Anna Alexander's new book provides a clear and cogent confirmation of her principal argument that "The experiences of interaction and debate over the issue of fire among residents ultimately affected both the spacial layout and the political and social dynamics of Mexico City." Her book is also a spectacular confirmation of the importance of language fluency. At a time when many people in the United States question the importance of bilingualism, her research in many archives in Mexico and elsewhere was clearly only made possible by her obvious fluency in Spanish.
Similar to Mark Overmyer-Velazquez's research on Oaxaca, Alexander makes use of a great many primary sources in new and illuminating ways. Records on the social importance of fires were, in a sense, "hiding in plain view," waiting for the right person to explain their social significance and often unintended consequences. It is clear that Alexander is the right person for the job. The outstanding results are evident in every chapter of her book.
During a time in Mexico of Comtean Positivism and government "ruled by experts--or simply put, a technocracy," the results, with respect to issues surrounding fires, were not always positive. For example, "In several befuddling cases, the new machines used to extinguish fires actually started a fire." Likewise, when fire insurance became available, property owners often "neglected basic duties that would prevent fires" because they felt "safe" now that their potential losses would be reimbursed. (Often not without a great deal of difficulty and delay on the part of insurance companies, as Alexander shows.) The book clearly demonstrates that large scale technological change always includes unexpected negative social consequences, somewhat like the debates surrounding social media today.
One of the principal benefits of Alexander's analysis is that it fundamentally shifts the taken-for-granted views of many Latin American historians, who "have traditionally emphasized the region's export-based economies to understand underdevelopment as byproducts of colonialism and dependency," in order to propose a new and very interesting look at "the importance of local, non-export-oriented enterprises." Whether that involved the surprising number of patents obtained by Mexican entrepreneurs and scientists during this period,or the numerous everyday examples of the effects of social class, Alexander outlines new and significant ways to understand development and social dynamics in Mexico during an important historical period. For anyone interested in Mexico and Latin America, this new book is indispensable. Groundbreaking work like Alexander's often allows us to see the familiar in new and very different ways. Five stars!
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