The Origins of Violence in Mexican Society

The bloody, mass sacrifices of the Aztec empire have been documented and decried since the 16th century when the Spanish began using violence to justify their own domination of the Mesoamerican Indian population. Similarly, the violence of the Conquest, and the first years of the Spanish colonial occupation of Mexico, have been discussed and decried. However, researchers and scholars have discussed the violence of both societies only in descriptive terms, rarely attempting to offer explanations for the violence of the two periods. The unique feature of this analysis is a socioeconomic investigation of labor patterns, food production, trade, wealth, population, and environment, providing an explanatory framework for what otherwise appears as senseless and random violence. In this study, Johns analyzes the violence of Aztec and Conquest Mexico from a materialistic perspective.

List of contents

Preface
Introduction
The Rise of the Aztec State
The Aztec Social Formation in the Later Empire
Warfare in Aztec Mexico
Forced Labor in Aztec Mexico
Legal Sanctions in Aztec Mexico
Aztec Human Sacrifice and the Politics of Fear
Spain and the World Economy
Warfare in the Age of the Conquistador
Forced Labor in Conquest Mexico
Legal Sanctions in Conquest Mexico
The Heritage of Violence in Mexico
References

About the author

CHRISTINA JACQUELINE JOHNS is Associate Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology at Eastern Michigan University. She is the author of Power Ideology and the War on Drugs (Praeger, 1992) and State Crime, the Media, and the Invasion of Panama (Praeger, 1993).

Product details

• Authors: Christina Johns, Christina J. Johns
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: ages 7 to 17
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.05.1995
• EAN: 9780275948382
• ISBN: 978-0-275-94838-2
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Criminal law, criminal procedural law, criminology; Mexico, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Latin America / Mexico, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Violence in Society, Economic history, Social and cultural history, Violence in society, History of the Americas, Violence and abuse in society, Violence, intolerance and persecution in history, Current Events and Issues: Law and Crime