Nineteenth-century Mexican nationalism, between liberalism and conservatism

In the words of the Mexican academic and politician Agustín Basave, In Mexico, nationalist movements have been framed by the search for national identity. Popular and academic accounts of Mexican history often stress the importance of nationalism only after the Mexican Revolution. As mentioned in the introduction to this book by Jaume Navarro and Kostas Tampakis, nationalism was a crucial ideology in the rise of nation-states in the nineteenth century, yet one not easy to define. Science and religion studies have a long tradition in the Anglo-Saxon context, where research from historical, philosophical, theological, and sociological perspectives has taken place. In the case of Mexico, however, there is hardly any serious academic work on the matter. To speak of nationalism in Mexico immediately refers to a long search for identity. Mexico has been – and remains to this day – an exciting confluence of diverse cultures in a continuous process of inculturation.