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Acknowledgments I can think of no better way to begin these acknowledgments than by expressing my deep appreciation to the individuals and institutions in Mexico that work to preserve the documents that I used in researching this book. Without them, the past would be hidden, perhaps irretrievably, and the field of historical research greatly impoverished. I want to thank the Cámara de la Industria Textil de Puebla y Tlaxcala, where so many people went out of their way to supply me with the assistance and space to complete my research. The kind family of lawyer and PAN founder Manuel Gómez Morin gave me access to his papers. I particularly wish to acknowledge the late Don Mauricio and his wife Doña Elena, as well as their daughter Alejandra , and archive director Angélica Oliver for their warm welcome and delightful conversation. The archivists at the state and municipal archives in both Guadalajara and Monterrey shared their knowledge about and enthusiasm for regional research with me, and they were indispensable for the development of this project. I am also grateful to Leticia Fuentes Aquino at the Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada for her tireless searches and friendly discussions. Additionally, I owe thanks to the archivists at the Archivo General de la Nación, whose professionalism and interest propelled my research along. At critical moments in its earliest stages, Leticia Gamboa Ojeda at the Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, and Javier Garciadiego, the late Vı́ctor Urquidi, Carlos Marichal, and Blanca Torres at El Colegio de México offered insights, institutional support, and key contacts that facilitated this project. The generous support of both a Fulbright-Garcı́a Robles Grant and an American Philosophical Society Franklin Research Grant provided the resources to complete long stretches of archival work in Mexico. Financial assistance in the form of a Stony Brook Graduate Fellowship Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences also helped. Finally, both the University at Albany and United University Professions funded research trips and, most importantly, time off from teaching to complete the writing of this manuscript. I owe many, many thanks to Paul Gootenberg. His incisive critiques, enthusiasm for historical political economy, generosity, and warm friendship viii 兩 acknowledgments helped to carry this project from its earliest conception through its incarnation as a book. I had the inestimable fortune to work with Barbara Weinstein and Temma Kaplan during the course of this project. They have inspired me, educated me, and befriended me, and I will always be grateful for that. Ted Beatty graciously and with great forbearance read and critiqued many versions of this manuscript. His insights and enthusiasm are imprinted on this book. Also, I thank Richard Warren for his keen questions and comments, and Peter Winn, who exposed me to a world of Latin American literature that I may never have discovered without him. I am also deeply indebted to Liz Dore, who shared her knowledge and passion about Latin America with me during my undergraduate days. If not for her, this book would most likely instead be about Kenya. I am grateful to Marı́a Teresa Fernández Aceves, Julio Moreno, Andrew Paxman, and Rick Weiner, each of whom read and commented on substantial sections of the manuscript. Each sparked new and valuable lines of thinking, as well as rescued me from many errors; the errors that remain are wholly my own. Tere Fernández also helped me with archival research in Guadalajara, giving me information and access that I likely never would have gained without her. I presented various iterations of this project at the New York State Latin American History Workshop, at the New York City Workshop on Latin American History, and at the Latin American History Workshop at the University of Chicago. I benefited immeasurably from these discussions, and I want to thank Karin Rosemblatt, in particular, for her thoughtful commentary. I also want to thank my colleagues in the Department of History and the Department of Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino Studies at the University at Albany, SUNY, whose conviviality and zeal for scholarship created a wonderful setting to write this book. Edna Acosta-Belén, Iris Berger , Glyne Griffith, Richard Hamm, Amy Murrell Taylor, and Patricia Pinho, in particular, each contributed to this project in unique ways. Finally, I want to thank the two external readers at Penn State University Press, including Alan Knight, who provided incisive, extensive, and provocative critiques. They helped to improve the manuscript dramatically...

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