Abstract

LOMELI VANEGAS, Leonardo. The Positivist Interpretation of Mexico’s Economic Evolution. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2021, n.61, pp.175-211.  Epub Jan 31, 2022. ISSN 0185-2620.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24485004e.2021.61.75707.

The positivist philosophical current exerted a notable influence on education in Mexico and therefore on the formation of the elites and their interpretation of the country’s economic problems in the last third of the 19th Century. This article approaches the influence of this doctrine in the explanation of Mexico’s economic problems and its use by the so-called “científicos”, a group close to President Porfirio Díaz and of which his Secretary of the Treasury, José Yves Limantour, was a member. The positivist interpretation of the economic history of Mexico justified the role of Diaz’ authoritarian government by deeming it necessary to ensure order as an essential condition for the country’s economic progress.

Keywords : positivism; economic history; Porfiriato; economic development; historiography.

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