The SMU Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center would like to invite you to the lecture Mobilizing Teachers: Teacher politics in Mexico.

Date: Monday, April 15, 2024, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. CT

Location: Bank of Texas Dining Room,  SMU James M. Collins Executive Education Center,  3150 Binkley Ave. Dallas, TX 75205

Parking: Binkley Garage, 3105 Binkley Ave., Dallas, TX 75205

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please click below for registration.

The lecture is based on the new book publication “Mobilizing Teachers: Education Politics and the New Labor Movement in Latin America”. The political participation of public-school teachers in new democracies has generated heated debates. In some countries, teacher strikes shutter schools for months each year; in others, teachers' unions have become powerful political machines and have even formed new political parties. To explain these contrasts, Mobilizing Teachers delves into changes in education politics and the labor movement. Christopher Chambers-Ju argues that union organizations fundamentally shape teacher mobilization, with far-reaching implications for politics and policy. With detailed case studies of Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, this book is the first comparative analysis of teacher politics in Latin America. Drawing on extensive field research and multiple sources of data, it enriches theoretical perspectives in political science and sociology on the interplay between protests, electoral mobilization, and party alliances.

Featured Lecturer: Christopher Chambers-Ju, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas in Arlington

Christopher Chambers-Ju is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas in Arlington. He has worked on education politics for nearly twenty years, in academic and policy circles, and has conducted field research throughout Latin America. He holds a Ph.D. in in political science from UC Berkeley and was the recipient of the Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. His research sheds light on broader dynamics of education policy-making, labor conflict, and democratic governance. He uses multiple research methods and sources of data to tackle research questions, including survey data, interviews, focus groups, and historical archives. In 2017, he earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.  His research has been supported by the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. He teaches Democratic Citizenship in the Americas, Education Politics and Policy, Introduction to Comparative Politics, Politics of Mexico and Latin American Politics.

Invitation image: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/mobilizing-teachers/3FE82A72A4EB7D78B9B60BF6940D074E

Any person who requires a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability in order to participate in this program should contact the SMU Texas Mexico Center at texasmexico@smu.edu in advance at least 4 days prior to the event to arrange for the accommodation.

SMU Missions Food Texas-Mexico Center | https://www.smu.edu/Dedman/Research/Institutes-and-Centers/Texas-Mexico

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

3300 University Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75275-0117

214-768-4716  texasmexico@smu.edu