Manana Forever?
Contents:
May 17, Pages Buy. Apr 17, Pages. May 17, Pages. Its people tend to resent foreigners yet have made the nation a hugely popular tourist destination. Mexican individualism and individual ties to the land reflect a desire to conserve the past and slow the route to uncertain modernity. Why are Mexicans so successful in individual sports, but deficient in team play?
Why do Mexicans dislike living in skyscrapers? Why do Mexicans love to see themselves as victims, but also love victims?
Mañana Forever? Mexico and the Mexicans
And why, though the Mexican people traditionally avoid conflict, is there so much violence in a country where many leaders have died by assassination? His background makes him especially well positioned to explain his native land to an international audience. I never thought I would read a book by a Mexican that acknowledges that Mexicans have more to gain in venturing to America than U. Mexico and the Mexicans By Jorge G. An excellent source of information that is not only great and usable information but also provides the necessary back up data.
Now--the challenge--if we Mexicans as myself decide to take it; is to change for the better We know we can--all we have to do is continue learning and work together, as one. I learned a lot from your book. I wish Mexico's education system implements this book in their recommended readings--we will learn from it for sure. And if we still don't have one--we should start with it. I strongly recommend this book to anyone--young and old--that wishes to learn about Mexico and its people. You will definitely enjoy it and learn much from it.
Aug 30, Margaret Sankey rated it liked it. Un libro que describe al mexicano en varios de sus rubros. I think it presents a remarkable effort to summarize in few pages the great problems that Mexico faces many of which have been postponed for so long and which are often misunderstood especially by mexicans. I consider it a good starting read for those who want to get a good grasp about who Mexicans are, the roots of their contradictions and perspectives for the future.
Apr 03, Justinian rated it liked it Shelves: This is modern anthropology, through the use of statistics and polling data to collect, analyze, and distribute information … a - Manana Forever?: This is modern anthropology, through the use of statistics and polling data to collect, analyze, and distribute information … a very technical approach to understanding a people, society, and trends.
It is easy in this book to get lost in the data. It is overwhelming and at times distracting. Some of it is useful in explain more than it is in understanding. The data on housing was good as was the data on immigrants to the USA and crime. A good book, not a great one. Would have been great if maybe it was pages of text followed by the reams of data organized in appendices instead of in the text.
So in the end Did I learn anything that gives me additional insight into Mexico and its people? The answer is …Yes. Apr 27, Jennifer rated it liked it Shelves: Aug 30, Michael Dickson rated it really liked it. Vicente Fox's foreign minister sort of takes an inventory of Mexico today, makes some probably informed generalizations and a few questionable political statements, but mostly provides an interesting and insightful analysis. He charts out the surprising growth of the Mexican middle class and the transition to democracy.
Makes you think deeply about what is democracy and how does it function, what does it to do to a country and what does a country need for it to work effectively. Aug 16, Rebecca rated it it was ok. But it was very dry and sociological. At times the sentence and paragraph structures were complex enough to obscure understanding.
However, I do feel like I was warned about that in the intro and should have known better. So my lack of enjoyment can't be laid at the door of the author! Aug 14, Patrick Sprunger rated it liked it Shelves: The book's strength lies in its value as an introductory course into contemporary Mexican politics. Unless one is from a community with a prominent Mexican immigrant population, many North Americans may not understand the differences between the Mexican and US societies and governments.
Or - more probably - don't correctly identify those differences. Though I was a little put off by the author's psychobabble concerning the Mexican character, it is necessary to correctly understand how Mexicans differ from their North American neighbors. This is an important point.
In this shrewd and fascinating book, the renowned scholar and former foreign minister Jorge Castañeda sheds much light on the puzzling paradoxes of politics . About Manana Forever? In this shrewd and fascinating book, the renowned scholar and former foreign minister Jorge Castañeda sheds much light on the.
Americans tend to be able to understand the way new immigrants change when that change makes them more like us; if we can do that, we can understand the way they were originally in the country of their birth. Though the statistics are a bit dense, the fact that Mexico is currently the product of new constitutional amendments is not missed. Americans tend to make assumptions about the world through a certain lens.
Other countries tend to fall into one of two categories: A Countries with established constitutions that were long ago decided and given form, and B brand new countries in the process of drafting constitutional governments expected to be durable for the future.
We really lack a concept for dynamic countries in constant constitutional flux. If Americans learned anything about Mexico in school, it was probably the way Mexico was at that point in time - depending on a person's age, this could run the gamut from quasi-socialism to laissez-faire disarray. We are less aware that the country goes through transformations more or less in tandem with continental forces driven here in the north. Just as the US went through a decentralization in the first decade of the new millenium, Mexico changed dramatically under the presidents Fox and Calderon. If the vintage of one's education isn't the factor that decides the quality of Americans' understanding, misunderstanding can be attributed to the fact Mexican trends are not mirror images of US trends.
For the most part, Mexican trends are indivisible and original - but they do tend to happen at more or less the same time as big changes in the US. This change is prompted by multiple influences, but none more influential than the controlling trade partnership between the two countries. As America shifts psychologically into increasingly anti-immigrant attitudes, it is dangerous not to understand the origin of wholesale Mexican immigration.
The individual migrant worker is a single atom in a larger chemical process.
Why do Mexicans love to see themselves as victims, but also love victims? Dec 26, Vania rated it liked it. Parts of the book are definitely somewhat uncomfortable to read, as Castaneda's book is quite interesting, as it delves into the nature of the Mexican character, even while writing at length about how the concept of a national character doesn't really make sense. A good book, not a great one. Because they were a "defeated" people, they learned to find pride in being a "good" people, even in defeat. Download our Spring Fiction Sampler Now. About politics, history, the way they behave, problems and poll results.
The migration is a direct result of economic policies in the sending country. Mexico trades almost exclusively with the US. Furthermore, remittances and illegal activity the drug trade are quasi-formal features of Mexico's official economic model.
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On both the formal remittances from migrant workers and informal drug trafficking ends the relationship is two sided, but the fact is that Mexicans emigrate as much because of Mexican economic policy as perceived opportunity in the US. It has never been particularly important to American voters to understand the reasons behind immigration both legal and illegal , but those voters are generally clueless as to the actual origin of the phenomenon.
Manana Forever? by Jorge G. Castañeda | donnsboatshop.com
I didn't find certain facts that interesting or relevant, partly because of the sociological complexity that is - frankly - a little suspect. How certain can the author actually be that Mexicans' low response to organized sport is directly related to the prominence of dangerous, protectionist property laws? To others less inclined to indulge the author's interpretations its informative value is tied to the diligence of the reader's forraging ability. The latter could certainly do worse. Get-tough immigration policy and changes to the US economy have forced new latino immigrants further afield into the American hinterland.
Mañana Forever
May 25, Eric Sbar rated it it was ok. If you want to know why Mexico lacks a middle class and the type of teamwork seen in other parts of the world, look elsewhere. This book recites an issue without providing any positives about a hardworking people. You can learn a lot about Mexico and Mexican people from this book. About politics, history, the way they behave, problems and poll results.
I may not agree with all conclusions of the author but definitely a nice read to understand some facts about Mexico.
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Dec 26, Vania rated it liked it. He argues that its national character inhibits the country from modernizing and fulfilling its maximum potential, and he provides very strong support for his arguments with statistics from various sources. However, I found the the book to be one-sided; positive aspects of Mexico and its national character were rarely discussed. Still, the book was intriguing and insightful. I gleaned valuable insight about Mexico, Mexicans, and Mexican immigrants in the US that I will have a good time discussing with others.
Jan 12, Vedia Lupae rated it liked it Shelves: In case someone assumes I'm a prolific reader, I had already read half of this book a while back, and just got back to finishing it up yesterday. In truth, I'm not all the way to the end quite yet, but intend to finish it by today; still, I doubt the conclusion will significantly alter my overall opinion of this book.
I do recommend reading this book, and I did like it, but my rating is pretty low as I found Jorge G. Castaneda to repeat himself a little too much, and I would have preferred a bit In case someone assumes I'm a prolific reader, I had already read half of this book a while back, and just got back to finishing it up yesterday. Castaneda to repeat himself a little too much, and I would have preferred a bit more chronological flow in some issues. Still, he makes two things in this book: One is, a good insight into the mentality of Mexico, and its "love of victims", but lack of desire to not be a victim The second is, a powerful argument for Mexico to change its views and alter its xenophobia, to ally with the US and bring in more outside business to bolster not only the Mexican economy, but also to have Mexico step out into the world and have influence.
It was a very convincing book, but at times I found my eyes glossing over, in spite of the rather simple vocabulary. Maybe it was just my mindset at the time, but it might also be that he jumps around when making his point and repeats the thesis to the point he's making a few too many times. Aug 04, Darrenglass rated it really liked it. Castaneda's book is quite interesting, as it delves into the nature of the Mexican character, even while writing at length about how the concept of a national character doesn't really make sense.
He investigates some of the contradictions in Mexican attitudes about things, and talks at length about Mexico's relationship with the US and other countries, a topic he knows a lot about as he served as the foreign minister under Fox. Parts of the book are definitely somewhat uncomfortable to read, as Castaneda's book is quite interesting, as it delves into the nature of the Mexican character, even while writing at length about how the concept of a national character doesn't really make sense. Parts of the book are definitely somewhat uncomfortable to read, as Castaneda necessarily paints the Mexican people with broad brushstrokes that veer on stereotyping.
But many of his observations are very interesting, as are his stories of the last century of Mexican history and in particular his anecdotes about his own time in government. The book is far more nuanced and subtle than most political polemics in the US, but there were times I would have liked to read people who disagreed with the authors. Still, I learned a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about a country whose fortunes and misfortunes are so intertwined with our own.
I had high hopes for this book. Thought it would be interesting with a chapter titled something like "why Mexicans aren't good at soccer and hate skyscrapers. You know when an author takes 25 pages to explain what he's trying to say, well, what is he trying to say? I couldn't finish the chapter let alone the book. Lots of rambling and I was never clear what he was trying to say. He invok I had high hopes for this book. He invokes many of Mexico's literary heroes with some great quotes but then seems to contradict himself. Reads more like peer reviewed literature.
Long preface on distinguishing between national identity and national character.