Claudio Lomnitz writes about Mexican anarchist Ricardo Flores Magón and the first transnational grassroots political movement to span the U.S.-Mexican border.
The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón explores the relationship between exile and ideology by way of a biography of a transnational grassroots movement that was active through the whole of Mexico’s revolutionary era, at the start of the 20th century. Against the wishes of its militants, who were adamantly opposed to hero-worship and to any aspiring caudillo, this movement has come to be known as magonismo, obscuring the depth and seriousness of its militants’ ideological commitments. Indeed, there is in this story a tension between ideological identification and leadership. As a result, the relationship between ideology and personhood is at the center of my inquiry.
