What Happens When Eric Van Young and Stephen Haber Are Both on Your Dissertation Committee?

In a special issue of the Hispanic American Historical Review (no. 2, 1999), Eric Van Young engaged in a discussion of cultural history that the editors, tongue-in-cheek, referred to as a lucha libre.  A professional brawl ensued in which Van Young and Stephen Haber stood in different corners, and that has shaped the field for more than a decade.  When I defended my dissertation in 1997, both Van Young and Haber sat on my committee.  Inspired by Van Young’s meditations on cultural history, in this paper I explore the relationship between cultural and economic history and, as a possible resolution to the debate, take up categories used by historical actors themselves.

In 1927 journalist and feminist María Ríos Cárdenas commented on the relationship between cultural and economic forces when she wrote, “Woman, finding herself obliged to work, and as a logical consequence of the resulting moral and economic independence, has not obeyed this or that feminist doctrine.  Feminism was born when women had already entered into the work force.” This paper takes Ríos Cárdenas’ argument regarding causality and examines women, work, and representations of office work in 1920s Mexico City.  The essay shows that shifts in the earning power of the urban middle-class; women’s labor force participation; and, women’s educational experiences gave life to new ideas about women’s role in society.  By examining the relationship between cultural and economic history, this essay offers a new perspective on the history of feminism in the historiography of Latin American women’s mobilization.  In so doing, the essay also pays homage to Eric Van Young and his contributions to discussions of historical methods.