On 3 June 1915 the state legislature of Oaxaca in southern Mexico issued a decree which proclaimed that the ‘free and sovereign state of Oaxaca reassumes its sovereignty until such time as constitutional order is restored in the republic’ (i.e. in accordance with the Constitution of 1857). Governor José Inés Dávila therefore declared that the executive and legislative branches of the state government would assume control and responsibility over the federal agencies and services within the state. The justification for this dramatic course of action, taken at the height of a period of intense civil war in Mexico, was the decree issued by Venustiano Carranza in December 1914, which had suspended the Constitution in favour of a ‘temporary’ period of pre-constitutional government over which he was personally to retain strict executive control as First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army – thus effectively dissolving the constitutional base of the federation. The immediate casus belli was the occupation of the town of Pochutla on Oaxaca's Pacific coast on 1 May by a detachment of Constitutionalist troops, in what Governor Inés Dávila described as ‘a preconceived plan of attack on the sovereignty of the state’.
This article reflects on the evolution and the current state of Anglophone biography, focusing on the inherent and persistent tensions with regard to its definition, value, and purpose, and on its belated acceptance within the Anglophone academy. It also highlights the profound gap between Anglophone biography and the limited scope, practice, and academic marginalisation of Hispanic biography.Key words: biography; anglophone; hispanic; history; academy.Resumen: Este artículo reflexiona sobre la evolución y el estado actual de la biografía anglófona, enfocándose en las tensiones inherentes y persistentes con respecto a su definición, valor y propósito, y su aceptación tardía dentro de la academia anglófona. También destaca la gran brecha entre la biografía anglófona y el alcance limitado, la práctica y la marginación académica de la biografía hispana.
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