Abstract

ZARATE H., J. Eduardo. Community, Liberal Reforms and the Emergence of the Modern Indian: Towns in the Meseta Purépecha (1869-1904). Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2011, vol.32, n.125, pp.17-52. ISSN 2448-7554.

This article analyzes the impact of the 19^th-century liberal reforms on the indigenous communities of the Meseta Purépecha in Michoacan, not only on the reconfiguration of their territory, but also on the emergence of the modern Indian. On the basis of documents produced by those communities, the essay reviews the arguments that they elaborated to present themselves as subjects with both individual and collective rights, and to negotiate with the Mexican State for the privatization of their communal lands.

Keywords : indigenous communities; Mexican State; nation; complex citizenship; liberal reforms; territory.