Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T00:40:02.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Recovering Political Dynamics: Teachers' Unions and the Decentralization of Education in Argentina and Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

María Victoria Murillo*
Affiliation:
Yale University

Abstract

This article compares union-government relations in Mexico and Argentina when education was decentralized in the early 1990s. The Mexican union accepted decentralization after obtaining concessions from the government that placated its opposition; but the Argentine teachers’ unions militantly resisted the reforms, only to see government officials ignore their demands. These cases illustrate the significance of partisan identities, union fragmentation, and leadership competition in the interaction of public sector unions and government officials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amado, Ana, and Susana, Checa. 1990. Participación sindical femenina en la Argentina. Sindicato Docente: un estudio de caso. Working Paper. Buenos Aires: Ilet.Google Scholar
Angell, Alan, and Carol, Graham. 1995. Can Social Sector Reform Make Adjustment Sustainable and Equitable Journal of Latin American Studies 27, 1 (February): 189219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Araoz, Gerardo. 1995. Ctera's representative to the teachers' health fund. Author interview. Buenos Aires, June 22.Google Scholar
Arnaud, Alberto. 1992a. La decentralización educativa y el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, 1978–1988. Working paper. Mexico City: Cide.Google Scholar
Arnaud, Alberto. 1992b. La evolución de los grupos hegemónicos en el Snte. Working paper. Mexico City: Cide.Google Scholar
Arnaud, Alberto. 1993. Historia de una profesión: maestros de educación primaria en México, 1887–1993. Master's El Colegio de México.Google Scholar
Arnaud, Alberto. 1994. La federalización de la educación básica y normal (1978–1994). Política y Gobierno 1, 2: 237–73.Google Scholar
Avila Carrillo, Enrique, and Humberto, Martínez Brizuela. 1990. Historia del movimiento magisterial (1910–1989): democracia y salario Mexico City : Ediciones Quinto Sol.Google Scholar
Bates, Robert. 1996. Institutions as Investments. Development Discussion Paper 527 Institute for International Development, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Beaumont, P. B. 1992. Public Sector Industrial Relations London : Routledge.Google Scholar
Bensusán, Graciela. 1994. Los determinantes institucionales de la flexibilización laboral. Revista Mexicana de Sociología no. 1: 4578.Google Scholar
Birdsall, Nancy, and Richard, Sabot. 1994. Inequality, Exports and Human Capital in East Asia: Lessons for Latin America. In Redefining the State in Latin America, ed. Colin, Bradford. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Cavarozzi, Marcelo. 1987. Autoritarismo y democracia (1955–1983) Buenos Aires : Centro Editor de América Latina.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires). 1990. [Unions competing with Ctera.] March 11, 16, 26, 28.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1992a. [Provincial union leaders criticize Mary Sánchez for leaving the Peronist Cgt.] September 4.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1992b. [Renewal of Ctera membership; unions joining, leaving, expelled.] September 9.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1993a. [Santa Fe union leaves Ctera because Mary Sánchez wants to join Cta general strike.] May 21.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1993b. [Three anti-Ctera unions report coordinating activities.] July 3.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1993c. [Coalition of 12 teachers' unions with anti-Ctera stance.] August 9.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1994. [Teachers' unions organize a new coordinating coalition (Conate) to compete with Ctera.] May 6.Google Scholar
Clarín (Buenos Aires) 1995. [Mary Sánchez justifies Ctera's joining Cta general strike.] May 22.Google Scholar
Collier, Ruth Berins, and James, Samstad. 1995. Mexican Labor and Structural Reform: New Unionism or Old Stalemate The Challenge of Institutional Reform in Mexico, Boulder : Lynne Rienner. 938.Google Scholar
Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA). 1991. Memoria 1990/91 (annual report). Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA). 1992. Memoria 1991/92. Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA). 1994. Memoria 1993/94. Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Cook, María Lorena. 1996. Organizing Dissent: Unions, the State, and the Democratic Teachers' Movement in Mexico University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Del Campo, Jesús Martín 1995. Prd official and dissident Snte leader. Author interview. Mexico City, April 12.Google Scholar
Drake, Paul. 1991. Comments to the Political Economy of Latin American Populism. In The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America, ed. Rudiger, Dornbush and Sebastian, Edwards. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. 3540.Google Scholar
Di Tella, Torcuato. 1965. Populism and Reform in Latin America. In Obstacles to Change in Latin America, ed. Claudio, Veliz. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 4674.Google Scholar
Durand, Ponte, Víctor, Manuel 1994. El papel de los sindicatos en la política mexicana. Revista Mexicana de Sociología no. 1: 2944.Google Scholar
Edwards, Sebastian. 1995. Crisis and Reform in Latin America: From Despair to Hope New York : Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Etchemendy, Sebastián, and Palermo, Vicente. 1998. Conflicto y concertación. Gobierno, congreso y organizaciones de interés en la reforma laboral del primer gobierno de Menem (1989–95). Desarrollo Económico 37, 148 (January-March): 559–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foweraker, Joe. 1993. Popular Mobilization in Mexico: The Teachers' Movement, 1977–87 New York : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry. 1991a. Invested Interests: the Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global Finance. International Organization 45, 4 (Fall): 425–52.Google Scholar
Cook, María Lorena. 1991b. Debt, Development, and Democracy: Modern Political Economy and Latin America, 1965–1985 Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cook, María Lorena. 1995. Labor and Politics of Exchange Rates: the Case of the European System. In The Workers of Nations: Industrial Relations in a Global Economy, New York : Oxford University Press. 201–17.Google Scholar
Garrett, Geoffrey. 1998. Partisan Politics in the Global Economy New York : Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrett, Geoffrey, and Christopher, Way. Forthcoming. Public Sector Unions and Wage Determination. In Unions, Employers, and Central Banks, ed. Torben, Iversen, Jonas, Pontusson, and David, Soskice. New York : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gibson, Edward. 1997. The Populist Road to Market Reform: Policy and Electoral Coalitions in Mexico and Argentina. World Politics 49, 3 (April): 339–70.Google Scholar
Gordillo, Elba Ester. 1992. Modernización y sindicalismo en los tiempos de mercado. Paper presented to the First European and Latin American Conference on Political and Economic Integration, Granada, Spain, November 813.Google Scholar
Graham, Carol, and Moisés, Naím. 1997. The Political Economy of Institutional Reform in Latin America. Paper presented to MacArthur Foundation/Iadb Conference “Inequality: Reducing Growth in Latin America's Market Economies,” Washington, Dc, January 2829.Google Scholar
Grassi, Estela, Susana, Hinze, and Maria, Rosa Neufeld. 1994. Políticas sociales. Crisis y ajuste estructural Buenos Aires : Espacio Editorial.Google Scholar
Grindle, Merilee. 1997. The Social Agenda and the Politics of Reform in Latin America. Unpublished manuscript. Harvard University.Google Scholar
Hanson, Mark. 1997. Educational Decentralization: Issues and Challenges. Occasional Paper 9. Santiago de Chile: Preal (Program to Promote Educational Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean).Google Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INDEC). 1994. Anuario estadístico de la República Argentina Buenos Aires : INDEC.Google Scholar
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). 1996. Economic and Social Progress in Latin America: 1996 Report Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
International Labor Organization (ILO). 1996. Impact of Structural Adjustment on Employment and Training of Teachers. Report for discussion, presented at the Joint Meeting on the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Educational Personnel. Geneva: Ilo.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Robert, and Barbara, Stallings. 1989. Debt and Democracy in the 1980s: The Latin American Experience. In Debt and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Kaufman, and Stallings, Boulder : Westview Press. 201–24.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Robert 1991. The Political Economy of Latin American Populism. In The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America, ed. Rudiger, Dornbush and Sebastian, Edwards. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. 1534.Google Scholar
Knight, Alan. 1998. Populism and Neo-Populism in Latin America, Especially Mexico. Journal of Latin American Studies 30, 2 (May): 223–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Way, Lucan. 1998. Between a Shock and a Hard Place: the Dynamics of Labor-Backed Adjustment in Poland and Argentina. Comparative Politics 30, 2: 171–92.Google Scholar
Maffei, Marta. 1995. Secretary General of Ctera. Author interview. Buenos Aires, July 24.Google Scholar
Márquez, Gustavo. 1994. Regulación del mercado de trabajo en América Latina Caracas : IESA.Google Scholar
McGuire, James. 1992. Data set on union strikes in Argentina, 1984–1993. Based on reports Tendencia Económica (Buenos Aires). Unpublished.Google Scholar
McGuire, James. 1996. Strikes in Argentina: Data Sources and Recent Trends. Latin American Research Review 31, 3: 127–50.Google Scholar
McGuire, James. 1997. Peronism Without Perón: Unions, Parties, and Democracy in Argentina Stanford : Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Murillo, María Victoria 1997a. From Populism to Neoliberalism: Labor Unions and Market-oriented Reforms in Argentina, Mexico, and Venezuela. Ph.D. diss., Harvard University.Google Scholar
Murillo, María Victoria 1997b. A Strained Alliance: Continuity and Change in Mexican Labor Politics. In Mexico: Assessing Neo-Liberal Reform, ed. Mónica, Serrano. London : Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London. 5374.Google Scholar
Murillo, María Victoria 1997c. Union Politics, Market-Oriented Reforms, and the Reshaping of Argentine Corporatism. In The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America: Rethinking Participation and Representation, ed. Douglas, Chalmers, Carlos, M. Vilas, Katherine, Hite, Scott, B. Martin, Kerianne, Piester, and Monique, Segarra. New York : Oxford University Press. 7294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Nación (Buenos Aires). 1991. [Report on organization of the Cea (Confederation of Argentine Educators) including seven anti-Ctera unions (Uda and Amet among them).] February 25.Google Scholar
Navarro, Juan Carlos. 1993. Proyecto de desarrollo institucional del sector social. Propuesta y experiencias de reforma institucional en el sector educativo en Venezuela. Mimeograph. Caracas. September.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo. 1978. State and Alliances in Argentina, 1956–1976. Journal of Development Studies 15, 1: 333.Google Scholar
Ornelas, Carlos. 1995. El sistema educativo mexicano Mexico City : Fondo de Cultura Económica.Google Scholar
Paglianitti, Norma. 1991. Neo-conservadurismo y educación Buenos Aires : Libros del Quirquincho.Google Scholar
Palomino, Héctor. 1995a. Las estratégias de los docentes. Unpublished manuscript. Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Palomino, Héctor. 1995b. Quiebres y rupturas de la acción sindical. In La nueva matriz política argentina, ed. Carlos, Acuña. Buenos Aires : Nueva Visión. 1326.Google Scholar
Palomino, Héctor. 1997. Personal communication. October 14.Google Scholar
Pontusson, Jonas, and Peter, Swenson. 1996. Labor Markets, Production Strategies and Wage-Bargaining Institutions: the Swedish Employers' Offensive in Comparative Perspective. Comparative Political Studies 29: 223–50.Google Scholar
Puryear, Jeffrey. 1997. La educación en América Latina: problemas y desafios. Document 7. Santiago de Chile: Preal.Google Scholar
Puryear, Jeffrey, and José, Joaquín Brunner, eds. 1995. Educación, equidad y competitividad económica Washington, DC : Organization of American States.Google Scholar
República de Argentina. Ministerio de Cultura y Educación. 1997. Programa de estudios de costos del sistema educativo. Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, José Antonio. 1995. Adviser to Elba Ester Gordillo, secretary general of Snte. Author interview. Mexico City; April 4.Google Scholar
Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE). 1992. Estatutos. Mexico City: Snte.Google Scholar
Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) 1995. Informe de actividades que rinde el comité ejecutivo nacional del Snte al Iii Congreso Nacional Extraordinario. Mexico City, February 26–March 31.Google Scholar
Sozio, Torcuato. 1995. Secretary for collective bargaining, Argentine Ministry of Education. Author interview. Buenos Aires, June 29.Google Scholar
Street, Susan. 1983. Burocracia y educación: hacia un análisis político de la desconcentración administrativa en la Secretaría de Educación Pública. Estudios Sociológicos (Mexico City) 1, 2 (May-August): 239–62.Google Scholar
Street, Susan. 1992. Maestros en movimiento: transformaciones en la burocracia estatal (1978–1982) Mexico City : Ediciones de la Casa Chata.Google Scholar
Swenson, Peter. 1991. Labor and the Limits of the Welfare State: the Politics of Intraclass Conflict and Cross-Class Alliances in Sweden and West Germany. Comparative Politics 23, 4 (July): 513–44.Google Scholar
Torre, Juan Carlos. 1997. Las dimensiones políticas e institucionales de las reformas estructurales en América Latina. Reformas de Política Pública series. Santiago de Chile: Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (Cepal).Google Scholar
Williamsom, John, ed. 1994. The Political Economy of Policy Reform Washington, DC : Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Zapata, Francisco. 1994. Crisis en el sindicalismo en México Revista Mexicana de Sociología no. 1: 7988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar