Forsaken Harvest

This historical monograph examines the decline of the hacienda estates within Jalisco, Mexico during the early decades of the 20th century. The book also explores the impact of the land reform program of President Lazaro Cardenas in transforming the agrarian economic structure of the region. This study contributes to an ongoing lively debate about the hacienda system and the meaning of the Cardenas reforms. This is an important work because it explores the evolutionof a regional socio-economic system that promoted urbanindustrial growth at the expense of the rural poor. The modelof regional development described is applicable to other areas of Mexico and underdeveloped Third World nations with extensive peasant populations. The research for this investigation has wider implications regarding issues of global hunger and malnutrition.