Laboratory of the Revolution is the first-ever professional study of Tomás Garrido Canabal, revolutionary strongman of Tabasco state between 1922 and 1935. He dreamed of turning Tabascoâan isolated backwater and the quintessential âbanana republicââinto a beacon of progress. Garridoâs recipe for that progress consisted of ridding the state of religion, prohibiting alcohol and other vices, championing science, and boosting agriculture and ranching. He only fell from power when a shoot-out in Tabasco furnished the pretext for subordinating the state to President Lázaro Cárdenasâs centrally governed political machine, the forerunner of Mexicoâs long-lived one-party system.
List of Illustrations and Tables Translatorâs Preface Chronology Principal Organizations by Acronym
ââIntroduction
1 Anticlerical Radicalism
â1âJacobinism and Bolshevism
â2âInfluence
â3âThe ICAM in Tabasco
â4âThe Tip of the Spear
â5âThe Fiercest Enemy
â6âThe Land without God
â7âVariations on the Same Theme
â8âCombating Fanaticism
â9âAnecdotes
â10âRepercussions
â11âGarridoâs Path
2 Education without Dogma
â1âThe Modern School in Tabasco
â2âObjectives of the New Education
â3âThe Rationalist School in Operation
â4âAgainst Centralized Education
â5âIn the Time of Revolutionary Psychology
â6âThe Students Take Sides
3 The Enclave Economy
â1âGreen Gold
â2âA Unique Sort of Agrarian Reform
4 The Puritan Modernizer
â1âThe Cooperative Republic
â2âThe Anti-vice Campaign
â3âSocialism without Marx
5 Politics, Tabasco-Style
â1âGarridoâs Power
â2âAn Impregnable Bastion
â3âThe Ligas de Resistencia
â4âThe Emissary of Revolutionary Thought
â5âRegional versus Central Government
â6âAnatomy of the Camisas Rojas
â7âWomen as the Foundation of Garridista Society
6 In the Eyes of His Enemies
â1âProtect Our Traditions!
â2âDimas, the Good Thief
â3âAnticlericalism
â4âRationalist Teaching
â5âLigas de Resistencia
â6âThe Camisas Rosas
â7âThe Black Legend
â8âAnd Even the Victor Is More Honored
â9âAn Eye for an Eye
â10âThe Crusades
7 The Confrontation
â1âBloody Sunday in Coyoacán
â2âThe Field of Battle Is Chosen
â3âThe Leaderâs Fall
8 Tabasco Must Be Mexicanized
â1âIn the Shadow of Don Tomás
â2ââAnd the Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail â¦â
â3âNational Integration
9 The Voluntary Exile of Garrido Canabal
â1âThe Leader of the Southeast
â2âAnother Life
â3âIn Garridoâs Absence
â4âBefore and After
â5âThe New World
â6âInternal Politics
â7âNational Politics: Petroleum
â8âThe Rebellion of Saturnino Cedillo
â9âQuarrel with the Catholic Church
â10âThe Presidential Succession of 1940
â11âEconomy and Agrarian Reform
â12âThe Return
â13âDeath Comes for the Man of Action
â14âEl Vencedor
Glossary of Spanish Terms Bibliography Index
This book will fascinate scholars and students of Mexican history, social revolutions, and the tumultuous twentieth century. It will find welcome in research libraries around the world.