ABSTRACT
In the work’s prologue, Jose E. Iturriaga, explains that culture is essential to economic development, for it plays a central role in Mexicans’ capacity as consumers. Iturriaga also directs his attention to the significant cultural impact of modernization on Mexican society and family life. To conduct his analysis, Iturriaga drew on a range of theories and claimed “an eclectic set of criteria by which classes are distinguished by economic level, levels of culture, and habits of conduct—all of these criss-crossing in different equations.” While a middle class emerged in Mexico at least as early as the late nineteenth century, according to the study, between 1895 and 1940, the Mexican middle class grew from 8 to 16 percent of the population and was concentrated in urban areas. The fundamental characteristic of the social organization of Mexico is that of an agrarian society, although it is far different from that which existed immediately prior to the revolutionary era.
