Overview

Long before the Arab Spring and its use of social media demonstrated the potent intersection between technology and revolution, the Mexican Revolution employed wireless technology in the form of radiotelegraphy and radio broadcasting to alter the course of the revolution and influence how political leaders reconstituted the government. Radio in Revolution, an innovative study of early radio technologies and the Mexican Revolution, examines the foundational relationship between electronic wireless technologies, single-party rule, and authoritarian practices in Mexican media. J. Justin Castro bridges the Porfiriato and the Mexican Revolution, discussing the technological continuities and change that set the stage for Lazaro Cardenas's famous radio decree calling for the expropriation of foreign oil companies. Not only did the nascent development of radio technology represent a major component in government plans for nation and state building, its interplay with state power in Mexico also transformed it into a crucial component of public communication services, national cohesion, military operations, and intelligence gathering. Castro argues that the revolution had far-reaching ramifications for the development of radio and politics in Mexico and reveals how continued security concerns prompted the revolutionary victors to view radio as a threat even while they embraced it as an essential component of maintaining control.

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Reviews

Radio in Revolution adeptly addresses a glaring oversight in the historiography of twentieth-century Mexico: the interplay between radio technology and the Mexican Revolution (1910-40). -Jurgen Buchenau, coauthor of Mexico's Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Chellenge of Rule since the Late Nineteenth Century -- Jurgen Buchenau This work has the potential to cause scholars to rethink the importance of technological savvy and acquisition, mainly radio, for Mexico during its revolution and postrevolutionary era. Castro's decision to tackle radio developments during the Porfiriato and through the revolution renders a very rich analysis. -Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante, author of Muy buenas noches: Mexico, Television, and the Cold War -- Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante Radio in Revolution fills a major gap in the historiography of Mexico's telecommunications and early broadcasting industries. Castro raises the bar for studies of media and nation building during Mexico's tumultuous revolution. -Jose Luis Ortiz Garza, author of Una radio entre dos reinos -- Jose Luis Ortiz Garza Castro depicts a significant continuity from Porfirio Diaz to Plutarco Elias Calles in governmental use of radio technology to consolidate centralization. The Mexican Revolution, prototype for all twentieth-century social revolutions, was also the first war in which radio served a major military purpose. -Robert H. Claxton, author of From Parsifal to Peron: Early Radio in Argentina, 1920-1944 -- Robert H. Claxton

Castro depicts a significant continuity from Porfirio Diaz to Plutarco Elias Calles in governmental use of radio technology to consolidate centralization. The Mexican Revolution, prototype for all twentieth-century social revolutions, was also the first war in which radio served a major military purpose. Robert H. Claxton, author of From Parsifal to Peron: Early Radio in Argentina, 1920 1944 --Robert H. Claxton (09/15/2015)

Radio in Revolution adeptly addresses a glaring oversight in the historiography of twentieth-century Mexico: the interplay between radio technology and the Mexican Revolution (1910-40). -Jurgen Buchenau, coauthor of Mexico's Once and Future Revolution: Social Upheaval and the Challenge of Rule since the Late Nineteenth Century -- Jurgen Buchenau This work has the potential to cause scholars to rethink the importance of technological savvy and acquisition, mainly radio, for Mexico during its revolution and postrevolutionary era. Castro's decision to tackle radio developments during the Porfiriato and through the revolution renders a very rich analysis. -Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante, author of Muy buenas noches: Mexico, Television, and the Cold War -- Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante Radio in Revolution fills a major gap in the historiography of Mexico's telecommunications and early broadcasting industries. Castro raises the bar for studies of media and nation building during Mexico's tumultuous revolution. -Jose Luis Ortiz Garza, author of Una radio entre dos reinos -- Jose Luis Ortiz Garza Castro depicts a significant continuity from Porfirio Diaz to Plutarco Elias Calles in governmental use of radio technology to consolidate centralization. The Mexican Revolution, prototype for all twentieth-century social revolutions, was also the first war in which radio served a major military purpose. -Robert H. Claxton, author of From Parsifal to Peron: Early Radio in Argentina, 1920-1944 -- Robert H. Claxton

Author Information

J. Justin Castro is an assistant professor of history at Arkansas State University.   

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