Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T20:39:52.946Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Learning the Limits of Power: Privatization and State-Labor Interactions in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Mark Eric Williams
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite repeated conflict with organized labor, the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988–94) pushed an aggressive divestment agenda that transformed Mexico into Latin America's leading privatizer. Explanations of Salinas's achievements typically emphasize centralized presidential power (including control over the ruling party) and autonomy; technocratic and political savvy; and weak labor opposition. This article questions such a pure “capacity-outcome” approach. Of equal importance are the learning effects of repeated interaction between the state and labor, which changed the course of divestment struggles and thereby influenced their outcomes. Lessons learned in successive confrontations led to patterns of interaction conducive to widescale privatization. The article develops this argument through comparative analysis of major divestment episodes in the aviation, mining, steel, and telecommunications sectors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , Winter 2001 , pp. 91 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acosta, Carlos. 1989. Hasta marzo, la empresa decía que Cananea era ejemplar; en cinco meses se volvió un desastre. Proceso 669: 6–8.Google Scholar
Aeroméxico. 1993. Former General Director. Author interview. Mexico City, July 22. Ardito-Barletta, Nicolás. 1994. Panel Discussion. in Williamson 1994. 457–66.Google Scholar
Aspe, Pedro. 1993. Economic Transformation the Mexican Way. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Associated Press (AP). 1989. Government Decides to Sell Telephone Company. March 9. http:web.lexis-nexis.com universe/document?ansset+GeHauKO (accessed January 13, 2001).Google Scholar
Axelrod, Robert M. 1984. The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bates, Robert H., and Anne, O. Krueger. 1993. Generalizations Arising from the Country Studies. In Political and Economic Interactions in Economic Policy Reform: Evidence from Eight Countries, ed. Bates, and Krueger, . Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. 444–72.Google Scholar
Carlos, Bázdresch P., and Carlos, Elizondo. 1993. Privatization: the Mexican Case. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 33: 45–66.Google Scholar
Botelho, Antonio, and Caren, Addis. 1997. Privatization of Telecommunications in Mexico. In Lessons From Privatisation: Labour Issues in Developing and Transitional Countries, ed. Van derRolph, Hoeven and Gregory, Sziraczki. Geneva: International Labour Office. 71–92.Google Scholar
Brachet-Márquez, Viviane. 1994. The Dynamics of Domination: State, Class, and Social Reform in Mexico, 1910–1990. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Burgess, Katrina. 1999. Loyalty Dilemmas and Market Reform: Party-Union Alliances under Stress in Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. World Politics 52: 105–34.Google Scholar
Business International Corporation. 1990. Mexico: Privatization, Deregulation, and Liberalization. In Privatization in Latin America: New Competitive Opportunities and Challenges. New York: Business International Corp: 41–82.Google Scholar
Camposeco, Manuel. 1989. Aeroméxico: el gatopardismo de la modernidad. In Reconversión industrial y lucha sindical, ed. Esthela, Gutiérrez. Caracas/Mexico City: Fundación Friedrich Ebert-México/Nueva Sociedad. 153–79.Google Scholar
Cantú, Jesús. 1992. Solidaridad, además de electorero, se manejó en Michoacán coercitivamente. Proceso 819: 14–15.Google Scholar
Carlsen, Laura. 1991. From the Many to the Few: Privatization in Mexico. Multinational Monitor 12 (May): 16–18.Google Scholar
Centeno, Miguel Angel. 1994. Democracy Within Reason: Technocratic Revolution in Mexico. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Clifton, Judith. 2000. The Politics of Telecommunications in Mexico: Privatization and State-Labour Relations, 1982–1995. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Conesa, R., Ana, María, and Eduardo Larrañaga, S. 1988. Aeroméxico: el derecho de huelga en quiebra. El Cotidiano 25: 66–70.Google Scholar
Contreras, Oscar R., and Miguel, Angel Ramírez. 1988. Novedades de la postguerra: fin del auge exportador y repliegue hacia el mercado interno. In La nueva industrialización de Sonora: el caso de los sectores de alta tecnología, ed. José, Carlos Ramírez. Hermosillo: El Colegio de Sonora. 243–97.Google Scholar
Contreras, Oscar F., and Miguel, Angel, Ramírez, Sánchez. 1992. Mercado de trabajo y relaciones laborales en Cananea: la disputa en torno a la flexibili-dad. Trabajo: Sociedad, Tecnología y Cultura 8: 7–16.Google Scholar
Córdoba, José. 1994. Mexico. in Williamson 1994. 232–84.Google Scholar
Corrales, Javier. 2000. Presidents, Ruling Parties, and Party Rules: a Theory on the Politics of Economic Reform in Latin America. Comparative Politics 32: 127–49.Google Scholar
Corro, Salvador. 1988. En diciembre Aeroméxico aún era viable; en enero se decidió ponerla en picada. Proceso 599: 24–27.Google Scholar
Corro, Salvador. 1989. Al contrario de Cananea, en teléfonos el sindicato ni las manos metio. Proceso 673: 8–9.Google Scholar
Davies, R. E. G. 1984. Airlines of Latin America Since 1919. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.Google Scholar
De laGarza Toledo, Enrique. 1989. Quién ganó en Telmex El Cotidiano 32: 49–56.Google Scholar
De laMadrid, Miguel. 1993. Former President of Mexico. Author interview. Mexico City, June 28.Google Scholar
Domínguez, Jorge I., and James, A. McCann. 1996. Democratizing Mexico: Public Opinion and Electoral Choices. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Economist . 1993. Respect Restored. February 13: S3–4.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Expansión (Mexico City). 1988 May 11: 112.Google Scholar
Financial times (London). 1989 August 22: 4.Google Scholar
Financial times (London). 1991 November 6: 32.Google Scholar
El Financiero (Mexico City). 1988. Incertidumbre financiera sobre la venta de minera Cananea. May 17: 30.Google Scholar
El Financiero (Mexico City). 1989. Minera de Cananea, en lo financiero, no estaba en quiebra. August 22: 22.Google Scholar
Fondo de Cultura Económica. 1988. Reestructuración del sector paraestatal. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Forbes, Steve. 1992. Miraculous Mexico. Forbes, August 17: 25–26.Google Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry A. 1991. Invested Interests: the Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global Finance. International Organization 45, 4 (Autumn): 425–51.Google Scholar
Gayle, Dennis, and Jonathan, Goodrich. 1990. Exploring the Implications of Privatization and Deregulation. In Privatization and Deregulation in Global Perspective, ed. Gayle, and Goodrich, . Westport: Quorum. 1–23.Google Scholar
Good, Thomas L., and Jere, E. Brophy. 1990. Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Grindle, Merilee S. 1996. Challenging the State: Crisis and Innovation in Latin America and Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Guislain, Pierre. 1997. The Privatization Challenge: A Strategic, Legal, and Institutional Analysis of International Experience. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Guzmán Chávez, Alenka. 1990. Siderúrgica Lázaro Cárdenas-Las Truchas, 1977–1988. El Cotidiano 38: 15–22.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Robert, R. Kaufman. 1995. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Steven, W. Webb. 1994. Introduction. In Voting for Reform: Democracy, Political Liberalization, and Economic Adjustment, ed. Haggard, and Webb, . New York: Oxford University Press. 1–36.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter A. 1993. Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: the Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain. Comparative Politics 25 (April): 275–96.Google Scholar
Hansen, Roger D. 1971. The Politics of Mexican Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Harberger, Arnold C. 1993. Secrets of Success: a Handful of Heroes. American Economic Review 83: 343–50.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh. 1974. Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Howell, Chris. 1998. Restructuring British Public Sector Industrial Relations: State Policies and Trade Union Responses. Policy Studies Journal 26 (Summer): 293–310.Google Scholar
Huber, Evelyne, Charles, Ragin, and John, D. Stephens. 1993. Social Democracy, Christian Democracy, Constitutional Structure, and the Welfare State. American Journal of Sociology 99 (November): 711–49.Google Scholar
Ibarra, M., Jorge, Luis, Jose Luis, Moreno V., and Leopoldo Santos, R. 1990. Cananea: Resistencias regionales a la politica de modernizatión. Revista de El Colegio de Sonora 21: 33–171.Google Scholar
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 1996. Economic and Social Progress in Latin America, 1996 Report. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.Google Scholar
Jervis, Robert. 1976. Perception and Misperception in International Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
La Jornada (Mexico City). 1989. September 21: 1.Google Scholar
Journal of Commerce (London). 1988. April 19: 1.Google Scholar
Larrañaga, Eduardo, and Héctor, Mercado. 1988. Requisa e inexistencia de huelga en la Cma. El Cotodiano 21: 76–78.Google Scholar
Levitt, Barbara, and James, G. March 1988. Organizational Learning. Annual Review of Sociology 14: 324–34.Google Scholar
Lustig, Nora. 1998. Mexico: The Remaking of an Economy. 2d edition. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Mexico. Ministry of Finance. 2001. Former official of the Office of Privatization. Email correspondence. January 17.Google Scholar
Mexico. Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público. 1992. El proceso de enajenación de entidades paraestatales. Mexico City: Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público.Google Scholar
Mexico. Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social. 1989. Acuerdos para fijar las condiciones en que habrán de reanudarse las labores en la Companta Minera de Cananea. Mexico City: Secretaría del Trabajo y Prevision Social.Google Scholar
Middlebrook, Kevin J. 1995. The Paradox of Revolution: Labor, the State, and Authoritarianism in Mexico. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1988. Resisting Protectionism: Global Industries and the Politics of International Trade. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Timothy. 1991. The Limits of the State: beyond Statist Approaches and Their Critics. American Political Science Review 85: 79–96.Google Scholar
Morris, Stephen D. 1995. Political Reformism in Mexico: An Overview of Contemporary Mexican Politics. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Mumme, Stephen P. 1984. The Cananea Copper Controversy: Lessons for Environmental Diplomacy. Journal of Inter-American Economic Affairs 38: 3–22.Google Scholar
Murillo, M. Victoria. 2000. From Populism to Neoliberalism: Labor Unions and Market Reforms in Latin America. World Politics 52: 135–74.Google Scholar
Naím, Moisés. 1993. Paper Tigers and Minotaurs: The Politics of Venezuela's Economic Reforms. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Google Scholar
Nelson, Joan M. 1990. Introduction: The Politics of Economic Adjustment in Developing Nations. In Economic Crisis and Policy Choice: The Politics of Adjustment in the Third World, ed. Nelson, . Princeton: Princeton University Press. 3–32.Google Scholar
El Norte (Monterrey). 1988 April 22: 1.Google Scholar
Novedades (Mexico City). 1990. Pedro Aspe asume la presidencia de Sidermex. September 7: Fl.Google Scholar
Ortega Pizarro, Fernando. 1989. Los soldados, para anunciar que Cananea había sido declarada en quiebra. Proceso 669: 6–12.Google Scholar
Payne, Douglas W. 1993. Salinastroika: Less than Meets the Eye. National Interest 34: 43–52.Google Scholar
Presidencia de la República, Fondo de Cultura Económica. 1988. Las razones y las obras, gobierno de Miguel de la Madrid: crónica del sexenio 1982–1988. Vol. 6. Mexico City: Presidencia de la República, Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Ramírez, Miguel. 1994. Privatization and the Role of the State in Post-ISI Mexico. In Privatization in Latin America: New Roles for the Public and Private Sectors, ed. Werner, Baer and Melissa, H. Birch. Westport: Praeger. 21–44.Google Scholar
Rodrik, Dani. 1996. Understanding Economic Policy Reform. Journal of Economic Literature 34: 9–41.Google Scholar
Sacks, Paul M. 1980. State Structure and the Asymmetrical Society: an Approach to Public Policy in Britain. Comparative Politics 12 (April): 349–476.Google Scholar
Salinas deGortari, Carlos. 1993. Quinto informe de Gobierno, Anexo. Mexico City: Presidencia de la República.Google Scholar
Samstad, James G., and Ruth Berins, Collier. 1995. Mexican Labor and Structural Reform Under Salinas: New Unionism or Old Stalemate? In The Challenge of Institutional Reform in Mexico, ed. Riordan, Roett. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. 9–37.Google Scholar
Sanchez, Manuel, Rossana, Corona, Otoniel, Ochoa, Luis, Fernando Herrera, Arturo, Olvera, and Ernesto, Sepulveda. 1993. The Privatization Process in Mexico: Five Case Studies. In Privatization in Latin America, ed. Sánchez, and Corona, . Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank. 101–99.Google Scholar
Sariego, Juan Luis, Luis, Reygadas, Miguel, Angel Gomez, and Javier, Farrera. 1988. El estado y la minería mexicana: política, trabajo y sociedad durante el siglo XX. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Shafer, D. Michael. 1994. Winners and Losers: How Sectors Shape the Developmental Prospects of States. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Sitkin, Sim B. 1992. Learning Through Failure: The Strategy of Small Losses. In Research in Organizational Behavior, ed. Larry, L. Cummings and Barry, H. Staw. New York: JAI, 14: 213–66.Google Scholar
Solís, Vicente. 1992. La modemización de Teléfonos de México. El Cotidiano 46: 60–67.Google Scholar
Sonnichsen, C. L. 1974. Colonel Greene and the Copper Skyrocket. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
El Sonorense (Hermosillo). 1989a August 24: 1.Google Scholar
El Sonorense (Hermosillo). 1989b September 6: 1.Google Scholar
Tandon, Pankaj. 1992. Welfare Consequences of Selling Public Enterprises: Case Studies from Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, and the U.K. Vol. 2, Mexico: Aeroméxico, Mexicana. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Teichman, Judith A. 1995. Privatization and Political Change in Mexico. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Teichman, Judith A. 1996. Economic Restructuring, State-Labor Relations, and the Transformation of Mexican Corporatism. In Neo-liberalism Revisited: Economic Restructuring and Mexico's Political Future, ed. Gerardo, Otero. Boulder: Westview. 149–66.Google Scholar
Teichman, Judith A. 1997. Mexico and Argentina: Economic Reform and Technocratic Decision Making. Studies in Comparative International Development 32: 31–55.Google Scholar
Tetlock, Philip E. 1991. Learning in U.S. and Soviet Foreign Policy. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
El Universal (Mexico City). 1988. Rechazó Nafinsa las dos ofertas sobre Cananea. November 8: 22.Google Scholar
Van deWalle, Nicolas. 1989. Privatization in Developing Countries: a Review of the Issues. World Development 17: 601–15.Google Scholar
Vanderbush, Walt. 1996. Mexican Labor in the Era of Economic Restructuring and Nafta: Working to Create a Favorable Investment Climate. Labor Studies Journal 20: 58–87.Google Scholar
Villarreal, Rene. 1990. Industrial Restructuring of the Public Steel Industry: the Mexican Case. Public Enterprise 10: 257–78.Google Scholar
Voz de Michoacán (Lázaro Cárdenas). August 30: 1C.Google Scholar
Voz de Michoacán (Lázaro Cárdenas). 1991b August 31: 5C.Google Scholar
Voz de Michoacán (Lázaro Cárdenas). 1991c September 7: 1C.Google Scholar
Waterbury, John. 1993. Exposed to Innumerable Delusions: Public Enterprise and State Power in Egypt, India, Mexico, and Turkey. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1968. Economy and Society. Vol. 1. New York: Bedminster Press.Google Scholar
Weldon, Jeffrey. 1997. The Political Sources of Presidencialismo in Mexico. In Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Scott, Mainwaring and Matthew Soberg, Shugart. New York: Cambridge University Press. 225–58.Google Scholar
Williamson, John, ed. 1994. The Political Economy of Policy Reform. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Williamson, John, and Stephan, Haggard. 1994. The Political Conditions for Economic Reform. in Williamson 1994. 527–96.Google Scholar
World, Bank. 1995. Bureaucrats in Business: The Economics and Politics of Government Ownership. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar