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This volume honors the scholarly contributions of Kevin Middlebrook, presenting essays that explore Mexican labor history, comparative politics, and U.S. Latin American relations, with a focus on NAFTA/USMCA.
The first section engages with Middlebrook s work on Mexican labor, featuring dialogues on historical and policy analyses and reflections on Mexico s democratization. The second section examines his impact on comparative politics, including studies of Peru s military regimes and democratic transitions in Latin America. The final section addresses U.S. Latin American relations, highlighting labor provisions under NAFTA/USMCA and their effects on Mexico s trade unions and economic development.
By bringing together leading experts, the volume demonstrates the enduring relevance of Middlebrook s scholarship for understanding labor, political dynamics, and international trade in Latin America, making it an essential resource for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in the region.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I - Mexico s Exceptional Political Regimes: Chapter 2: The Paradox of Revolution : State and Organized Labor in Mexico in the Twentieth Century.- Chapter 3: Equal Pay for Equal Work and the Failure of Patriarchy in Revolutionary Mexico.- Chapter 4: A Brief Survey of the Past Half Century of Political Evolution in Mexico.- Part II - Militaries and Conservative Political Parties in Mexico and Beyond: Chapter 5: Civilian Government and Militarized Development: Lessons from Mexico.- Chapter 6: Becoming the Vanguard of Revolution: The Armed Forces and Politics in Velasco s Peru and Chávez s Venezuela.- Chapter 7: Middlebrook Revisited: Conservative Parties and Political Representation in Latin America.- Part III - US-Mexican Relations: Labor and Trade Agreements: Chapter 8: The USMCA and Mexican Labor: The Intersection of Domestic Politics, International Rights and National Sovereignty.- Chapter 9: Five Years after Institutional Change in the World of Work: Overview and Trade Union Perspectives in the Mexican Automotive Industry.- Chapter 10: Thirty Years after NAFTA: T-MEC, Can This Time Be Different? Reshoring, Value-Chains, and the Up-Scaling of Mexico s Development.
About the author
Paulo Drinot is a Professor of Latin American history at University College London. He studied at LSE and Oxford and has authored several books on Peru, including
The Allure of Labor
(2011) and
Los años de Leguía
(2024). He was co-editor of the
Journal of Latin American Studies
and has received major research fellowships, including from the Leverhulme Trust.
Par Engstrom (BA UCL, MSc London, DPhil Oxford) is Associate Professor of Human Rights at the Institute of the Americas, University College London, and Vice-Dean (Impact) at UCL’s Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences. He has held visiting positions at PSIA (Sciences-Po) and the University of São Paulo and worked with OHCHR, FCDO, and ABColombia.
Summary
This volume honors the scholarly contributions of Kevin Middlebrook, presenting essays that explore Mexican labor history, comparative politics, and U.S.–Latin American relations, with a focus on NAFTA/USMCA.
The first section engages with Middlebrook’s work on Mexican labor, featuring dialogues on historical and policy analyses and reflections on Mexico’s democratization. The second section examines his impact on comparative politics, including studies of Peru’s military regimes and democratic transitions in Latin America. The final section addresses U.S.–Latin American relations, highlighting labor provisions under NAFTA/USMCA and their effects on Mexico’s trade unions and economic development.
By bringing together leading experts, the volume demonstrates the enduring relevance of Middlebrook’s scholarship for understanding labor, political dynamics, and international trade in Latin America, making it an essential resource for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in the region.
