This book investigates how the land reforms following the Mexican Revolution of 1910-17 reshaped the socio-economic structure and ethnic identity of peasant communities in Oaxaca. Colin Clarke, a scholar of geography and Latin American studies, utilizes historical analysis and regional fieldwork to examine the divergence between lowland communities reconstituted by reform and highland peasantries with roots in the colonial era. The work argues that these distinct production systems and political participation patterns are essential to understanding the modern Oaxacan landscape.

Scholars in the fields of geography and Latin American history recognize this text as a detailed regional study of agrarian change. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the specific focus on the interplay between colonial history and revolutionary land reform.