Seeing like a Child? The History of Childhood in Post-1940s Mexico

“Seeing like a Child?:  The History of Childhood in Post-1940s Mexico”

  As a burgeoning sector of the post-1940 population, Mexican children commanded the attention of secular and religious officials, the mass media, and producers of consumer goods and entertainment. Ubiquitous in the urban landscape, children in Mexico City navigated a politicized—and culturally and socially complex—world.  But does their ubiquity mean scholars should attempt to “see like a child” and uncover aspects of a lived reality of children’s experiences? This paper examines recent historiographical trends in the history of childhood and evaluates the usefulness of —and the limitations inherent in—various approaches used when studying the topic in modern Mexico. Rather than attempting to “see like a child” I contend that the usefulness of the history of childhood is located in the nexus of power relations with which children were associated.  Based on archival research (particularly from the Secretaría de Educación Pública) and an analysis of print media, I argue that the lens of childhood allows us to see a more nuanced interpretation of the relations of power between the state and civil society in post-revolutionary Mexico. I demonstrate how public symbols of Mexican national identity in the post-revolutionary period connected to discourses of childhood and with the relationship of children to the future of the nation. The promise of new and “modern” ways of raising and educating children discursively fueled capitalist development.  Conversely, child poverty exposed the limits of rapid industrialization in a post-revolutionary society.  The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how the study of Mexican childhood can more broadly inform the field of childhood studies outside of this geographic location and temporal scope.