Debts Unpaid

‘A truly original and important book. Using new archival sources in innovative ways, Walker brings creditors and debtors together and explores the fight for social power and legal position over a long span of Mexican history. And yet, this is a story about risk and reward that resonates beyond Mexico, reminding us that not paying debts is as much a part of the history of capitalism as debt itself.’ Jeremy I. Adelman, University of Cambridge‘This pathbreaking book opens a new field of historical inquiry. Masterfully analyzing hit her to unused sources, Walker traces changes in the relationship between debtors and creditors over two centuries, providing fascinating insights into economic, political, and cultural history.’ Silvia Arrom, Jane’s Professor of Latin American Studies Emerita, Brandeis University‘Debts Unpaid shows us that ordinary Mexican people, far from existing on the margins of the world of finance, had complex economic lives. Walker analyzes their disputes with one another and with a growing number of financial institutions and instruments over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with creativity and insight. A highly original contribution to the history of capitalism in Mexico.’ Margaret Chowning, University of California, Berkeley‘This book opens unprecedented visions of everyday people in Mexico City as they lived economic challenges ranging from post-independence adaptations, through post-revolutionary reconstructions, to post-industrial globalizations. Integrating quantitative analyses and personal engagements, Walker sets new foundations to re-think Mexico’s history of capitalism.’ John Tutino, author of The Mexican Heartland: How Communities Shaped Capitalism, a Nation, and World History, 1500-1800

Louise E. Walker is Professor of History at Northeastern University. Her previous publications include the prize-winning Waking from the Dream: Mexico’s Middle Classes after 1968 (2013).