Science, discourses, and a building to eradicate atavism in Mexico: the case of the Casa del Estudiante Indígena, 1926–1928

Abstract

This article examines the establishment and operation of the Casa del Estudiante Indígena (cei) during the first two years of its existence (1926–1928). Drawing on statements by politicians and intellectuals, it analyzes how scientific discourse produced various narratives that served to legitimize the nation-building project of postrevolutionary Mexico, and how these positions were translated into practice through the material culture of schooling. More specifically, discourses that posited Indigenous peoples as existing in a state of backwardness underpinned the creation of the cei as a space intended to eradicate differences and narrow the presumed civilizational gap. The correspondence exchanged between the institution’s authorities and other public officials constitutes the documentary corpus through which it is possible to examine the type of citizens the project sought to form, the educational strategies envisioned for them, and the principal challenges—both external and internal—encountered in implementing an initiative that, despite its proclaimed modernizing aims, proved incapable of resolving the so-called “Indian problem”.