City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2019 Rails to Revolution: Railroads, Railroad Workers and the Geographies of the Mexican Revolution Hector Agredano The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3451 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] RAILS TO REVOLUTION: RAILROADS, RAILROAD WORKERS AND THE GEOGRAPHIES OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION by HECTOR AGREDANO A dissertAtion submitted to the Graduate FAculty in EArth and EnvironmentAl Sciences in partiAl fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, the City University of New York 2019 ©2019 HECTOR AGREDANO All Rights Reserved ii Rails to Revolution: Railroads, Railroad Workers and the Geographies of the MexicAn Revolution By Hector Agredano This mAnuscript has been reAd and accepted for the Graduate FAculty in EArth And EnvironmentAl Sciences in sAtisfaction of the dissertAtion requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Dr. JuliAna MAAntAy Chair of Examining Committee Date Dr. MonicA VArsAnyi Executive Officer Supervisory Committee Dr. Ruth Wilson Gilmore Dr. Don Mitchell Dr. MonicA VArsAnyi THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract RAils to Revolution: RAilroads, Railroad Workers, and the Geographies of the MexicAn Revolution by Hector Agredano Advisor: Professor JuliAna MAAntAy This dissertAtion is a historicAl geography of the role of railroads and railroad workers in the MexicAn Revolution. It shows that despite the presence of railroads in the populAr imAgination of the MexicAn Revolution, the role of railroads and railroad workers themselves remAins lArgely missing from scholArly accounts of the conflict. I argue that railroad workers were central to the revolutionary process from its beginning, And I demonstrate that their close relAtionship to a criticAlly importAnt transportAtion network allowed them to intervene at cruciAl moments of the revolutionary process. Undoubtedly, this relAtionship to transportAtion networks also had a formAtive impact on their politicAl involvement and their relAtionship to the revolution. I contend that during the revolutionary process, revolutionaries and railroad workers took advantAge of the cApacity for time-space compression and time-space expansion in order to achieve their aims. Workers and revolutionaries also mobilized these cApacities to engage in multi-scAlAr struggles Against the dictAtorship of Porfirio DíAz to contend for power in the aftermAth of the MexicAn Revolution of 1910. In the process, the railroad is transformed from a meAns of accumulAtion to A meAns of liberation by becoming a vehicle for revolutionary sociAl change. iv Acknowledgments This journey began after I reAd Andy Merrifield’s Metromarxism back in 2008. His book inspired me to pursue graduate educAtion in geography and to work with geographers mAking importAnt contributions to the field. Once at the Graduate Center, I began to work with Neil Smith, who wAs very supportive of my work when I decided to focus on a criticAl interpretAtion of transportAtion infrastructures. His untimely passing in 2012 wAs a huge loss to all of us who knew him, to the field of geography, And to anticApitAlist struggles. My reseArch lost its focus for A period until JAmes Biles stepped in as my new advisor. I am grateful to Jim for tAking over At a difficult time and for working with me diligently through various applicAtions to the NAtional Science Foundation. With his support and the support of the NAtional Science Foundation, I received a DoctorAl DissertAtion ReseArch Improvement awArd (#1459108) and wAs able do Archival work in Mexico for this dissertAtion. I also wAnt to thank Ruthie Gilmore, who hAs been a colleAgue, friend, And comrade since her arrival at the Graduate Center. Her encouragement and support during office hours were invaluable in this process. I’m also eternally grateful to Don Mitchell, who has supported my AcAdemic pursuits since I applied to graduate school. He has alwAys plAyed an importAnt role in guiding my work, And his contributions to my success stretch far beyond being an “external reAder” for my dissertAtion. JuliAna MAAntAy has been very supportive of my work since I arrived At CUNY, And her help throughout my GIS certificAte at LehmAn College has allowed me to have the success that I enjoy today. I owe her a debt of gratitude for stepping in as my advisor when Jim Biles could no longer plAy that role. LAst, I would also like to thank MonicA VArsAnyi, who wAs an eArly advocAte at the Graduate Center and who has graciously joined my supervisory committee. v Besides these stellAr scholArs, I would also like to thank the friends and colleAgues I met while cArrying out archival reseArch in Mexico. I owe a speciAl thanks to LAura Espejel at the Dirección de Estudios Históricos (DEH) at the Instituto NAcional de AntropologíA e HistoríA. She And my deArest friends, Enrique Esqueda BlAs, creAted A home awAy from home in TlAlpan, And I wAs very fortunate to benefit from the history seminars they organized at the DEH. SpeciAl thanks to SAlvador Rueda of the NAtional Museum of History at the Castle of Chapultepec. The stAff at the archive of the Centro de DocumentAción e Investigación FerroviAriAs in PueblA was very helpful, And IsAbel BonillA went above and beyond to provide me with rare texts and mAteriAls for this work. The stAff at the library of the Instituto Mora, the stAff at Instituto de Investigaciónes HistóricAs at the LAguna cAmpus of the Univesidad IberoamericAna, the stAff at the Archivo General de lA NAción, And those At the FototecA NAcional Also contributed to the completion of this work by sharing mAteriAls, documents, And reseArch advice while I wAs tracking the fleeting traces of railroad workers. The students and colleAgues at CUNY also provided an intellectual home and a rich environment for experimentAtion. SpeciAl thanks to TAmAr Rothenberg, who gAve me an opportunity to work at Bronx Community College. Thanks to Cindi KAtz and the students who formed part of the Space-time ReseArch Collective: ChristiAn Anderson, DAvid SpatAro, AmAnda Huron, NAomi Adiv, Rachel Goffe, Keith Miyake, LAurel Mei Turbin, and Bradley GArdner. KAfui Attoh and JAck Gieseking deserve a speciAl mention for their support, comradeship, And encouragement at seminars and conferences. In this difficult process, several colleAgues also stepped up to help improve my work, And I would like to thank Stephen McFArlAnd for his feedback on Chapter 3. ElizAbeth SibiliA and Casey King also helped me get to the finish line through our writing support group. Along with its faculty, the students are CUNY’s best asset. vi MAny other colleAgues provided invaluable politicAl engagement and intellectual stimulAtion in the clAsses and seminars we took together At CUNY; speciAl thanks to Hunter Brown, JAne McAlevey, Rakhee KewAda, Dominique Nisperos, Dezhonay Dozier, BenjAmin Rubin, And MAx Andrucki. While at CUNY I also had the good fortune to be part of the seminar At the Center for PlAce, Culture and Politics (CPCP) where I benefitted from engaging with DAvid HArvey, BriAn Jones, JAck Norton, Annie Spencer, KAffui Attoh, And others who sAw me struggle through the first drafts of this dissertAtion. Their feedback helped me improve Chapter 5. Besides the supportive colleAgues at the CPCP, I also had the good fortune to work with Do Lee and LAuren Ames Fischer to lAunch the Collective of CriticAl Transport ScholArs. The seminar on Indo-Afro-LAtin AmericAn Geographies of Thought, led by Professor Luis Barrios And other colleAgues, Also had a big impact on me and guided my work towArds LAtin AmericA. LAst, I would like to thank Ms. Anne Johnson at FinanciAl Aid and Ms. Lina McClAin, who retired before I could graduate. They alwAys mAde the CUNY bureAucracy much eAsier to navigate. My editors, KAthryn Peterson and SArah Grey, also deserve a speciAl mention. MAny thanks to my comrades in New York City and Mexico, who alwAys helped me pull through the tough times of reseArch and writing, especiAlly Frank NAso, Sherry J. Wolf, Conor Tomás Reed, Frankie Cook, LupitA Romero, JuliAn Guerrero, Keegan O’Brien, CrystAl Stella Becerril, Akua Gyamerah, Edna Bonhomme, MelisA, Aimé, Wicho, Diego, FAusto, GAby, TlAto, MAfer, SAiri and my friends from my hometown of Los Yugos, Lupe, Carre, MArto, Peri y Beto. LAst, I would like to thank my family for their understAnding and support during my studies, reseArch, And writing, graciAs especiAles a mis hermAnos Jorge, José, SebastiAn, AlejAndro y MAri, y a mi tío MArtín y mi tíA MAríA. Estoy muy agradecido con ustedes. Finalemente, graciAs a mis Abuelos y a mis padres, Guadalupe Agredano y JulietA Rivera. vii TAble of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................1