Racism, economic elites and the construction of the Nation-State in Sonora: the transition from the colonial order to independent Mexico (1775 – 1853).

Abstract

This article analyzes the continuity of colonial domination structures in the formation of independent Mexico, using Sonora (18th-19th centuries) as a case study. It argues that local criollo elites perpetuated their power by adapting racial hierarchies to new republican legal and political frameworks. It seeks to demonstrate how liberal and mestizophilic discourse functioned as a facade that concealed exclusion, the territorial dispossession of indigenous communities, and the restriction of full citizenship. The article contributes to understanding the exclusive construction of the nation-state, proposing that juridical racism was a fundamental mechanism for consolidating political power and criollo hegemony in the 19th century.