Technologies of Resistance: Media, Anarchy, and Radical Politics in Early Twentieth- Century Mexico by Maximillian Alvarez A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Comparative Literature and History) in The University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Professor Gareth Williams, Chair Professor Howard Brick Professor Geoff Eley Associate Professor Benjamin Paloff Professor Sergio Villalobos-Ruminott Maximillian Alvarez
[email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8866-4511 © Maximillian Alvarez 2020 To Fletcher, who did alright for a poor kid from North Carolina, and Mary, who encouraged me to read until I got my fill, knowing I never would. And to my family. I finished for them. ii Acknowledgements Thank you to my family and friends for getting me here. Thank you, especially, to my mother, Regina, and father, Jesus, who sacrificed so much for their children. Thank you to my partner, Meg, for all your love and support, for helping me grow and for growing with me (and thank you to our kitties, Boosh, Munch, Tink, and Midge, for being perfect). Thank you to my committee for your patience, encouragement, and insight, and to my Chair for assuring me every step of the way that I was where I was meant to be. iii Preface From the outside, my path to producing this dissertation might look a little unorthodox. I went from getting a B.A. and Master’s in Russian Literature to doing a student-initiated dual- Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and History, with a particular focus on media studies and Mexican political history in the twentieth century.