Survival Strategies Among the Mexican Rural Elite

This article focuses on a sector of society that has received comparatively little attention in the recent historiography of post‐revolutionary Mexican rural society: the local elite. Using the district of Zacapoaxtla in the Sierra Norte de Puebla as a case study, it explores the ways in which external agents of change challenged pre‐existing relationships between communities, classes, and ethnic groups. It shows how, in trying to retain their positions of local dominance, the elite displayed remarkable degrees of pragmatism and willingness to compromise on long‐standing prejudices. Above all, the article offers a detailed example of how political patronage at national and regional levels enabled local factions to overcome formidable opposition.