Mexico and Peru had very similar starting points: they were important centers of indigenous civilization and colonial domination. With independence, both went through a period of half a century of political and economic turmoil. However, entering the 20th century, they had very different political trajectories. Why? This is the question asked by Florencia Mallon in Peasant and Nation (P&N). To explain such divergence, the author analyzes the movements and "popular discourses", understood as a combination of struggles and shared cultural meanings. He argues that these represented forces that moved their respective countries towards the democratic nation-state.

This book represents a unique achievement of Latin American social anthropology that goes beyond, however, the limits of this discipline. In a volume that, despite being a compilation, constitutes a highly integrated whole and brings together virtues that are rarely found together in a single work: rigorous theoretical seriousness, high-quality field observation (despite extremely difficult and dangerous conditions) and literary excellence. This book is required reading for the contemporary Peru specialist as well as for the general reader interested in understanding the reason for the outcome of one of the bloodiest guerrillas in Latin America.