Consolidación del campo intelectual mexicano. Una aproximación histórica: décadas de los cuarenta y sesenta del siglo xx

The purpose of this essay is to present an analysis of the Mexican intellectual field between the 1940s and 1960s, with the aim of describing the constituent elements that made possible both its consolidation and its strengthening. A review is made of the indicators of the relative autonomy of specific institutions. It starts from the assumption that, from the 1940s onward, under the discourse of political unity around the revolutionary family, intellectuals shifted toward more moderate positions, sidelining leftist intellectuals who had championed state matters during the Cardenista period. This shift was decisive for the autonomation of the field, as it allowed for the emergence of institutions that helped take the definitive step toward the professionalization of intellectuals, as they guaranteed a certain degree of freedom for cultural proposals, in addition to symbolically consecrating their members.