The dissertation examines contemporary struggles for autonomy and self-governance in the P’urhépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico. Although P’urhépecha ethno-political movements have not emerged necessarily as autonomy struggles, this work argues that native communities have constructed ethnic discourses through demands for territorial rights and local security. Through the unfolding of such movements, P’urhépecha communities have inserted a political discourse around ethnic revival and the recognition of self-determination rights, consolidating demands for self-governance, following customary law, and outside of partisan politics. Framed within the theory of the “New Social Movements,” which examine collective actions by granting more visibility to issues other than class, such as ethnicity, gender, and environmentalism, to name a few, the work attempts to provide a meta-theoretical understanding of indigenous mobilizations, emphasizing “new forms of making politics.” By interweaving an extensive bibliographical and archival research, as well as ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, and oral interviewing, this work presents the struggles of contemporary autonomy movements in Michoacán, and their diverse actors. In this way, the dissertation contributes to building knowledge on communalism, ethnic revival mechanisms, as well as the praxis of self-governance. In this way, the work describes strategies of socio-political organization, which may be emulated beyond indigenous and local contexts. The first chapters follow a chronological order to illustrate the emergence of ethno-political mobilization in the P’urhépecha area. Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical framework, as well as the research methods. Chapter 2 examines the inception of contemporary autonomy struggles, and addresses the land movement of 1979 in Michoacán’s Lake Pátzcuaro. The chapter focuses on the deployment of communalism as an organizing strategy, as well as the emergence of regional solidarity networks, and the incorporation of culture to P’urhépecha people’s territorial claims. Chapter 3 pays attention to the process of ethnic re-vindication, and the building of transcommunal alliances in the P’urhépecha region, deploying strategic essentialism to foster indigenous unity and consolidate demands toward political autonomy. Meanwhile, Chapter 4 analyzes the 2011 forest defense movement in Cherán, a native community located in the P’urhépecha highlands area. Initially, the movement revolved around three specific demands (security, justice, and the recovery of the forest), but it transformed eventually into a struggle for local self-governance, proposing new forms of making politics outside political parties. The rest of the chapters are organized thematically, to emphasize key issues in contemporary P’urhépecha autonomy movements. Chapter 5 examines the establishment of communal governance councils and Rondas Comunales (community security guards), while Chapter 6 discusses the conceptual frameworks embedded in P’urhépecha practices of self-governance. More specifically, the chapter focuses on two specific principles: communal work and collective power. Chapter 7 analyzes the current struggles for economic self-administration in the P’urhépecha region as a facet of self-governance, and considers the transition from partisan politics to customary law. Chapter 8 concludes with general considerations for indigenous social movements, and frames P’urhépecha autonomy struggles within three main lines of action: ethnic revival, communalism, and self-governance.

Museum Matters tells the story of Mexico's national collections through the trajectories of its objects. The essays in this book show the many ways in which things matter and affect how Mexico imagines its past, present, and future.

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly determined that affordable Internet access is a human right, critical to citizen participation in democratic governments. Given the significance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to social and political life, many U.S. tribes and Native organizations have created their own projects, from streaming radio to building networks to telecommunications advocacy. In Network Sovereignty, Marisa Duarte examines these ICT projects to explore the significance of information flows and information systems to Native sovereignty, and toward self-governance, self-determination, and decolonization. By reframing how tribes and Native organizations harness these technologies as a means to overcome colonial disconnections, Network Sovereignty shifts the discussion of information and communication technologies in Native communities from one of exploitation to one of Indigenous possibility.

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies raises fundamental questions about the purpose of schooling in changing societies. Bringing together an intergenerational group of prominent educators and researchers, this volume engages and extends the concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP)—teaching that perpetuates and fosters linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of schooling for positive social transformation. The authors propose that schooling should be a site for sustaining the cultural practices of communities of color, rather than eradicating them. Chapters present theoretically grounded examples of how educators and scholars can support Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, South African, and immigrant students as part of a collective movement towards educational justice in a changing world. Book Features: A definitive resource on culturally sustaining pedagogies, including what they look like in the classroom and how they differ from deficit-model approaches.Examples of teaching that sustain the languages, literacies, and cultural practices of students and communities of color.Contributions from the founders of such lasting educational frameworks as culturally relevant pedagogy, funds of knowledge, cultural modeling, and third space. Contributors: H. Samy Alim, Mary Bucholtz, Dolores Inés Casillas, Michael Domínguez, Nelson Flores, Norma Gonzalez, Kris D. Gutiérrez, Adam Haupt, Amanda Holmes, Jason G. Irizarry, Patrick Johnson, Valerie Kinloch, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Carol D. Lee, Stacey J. Lee, Tiffany S. Lee, Jin Sook Lee, Teresa L. McCarty, Django Paris, Courtney Peña, Jonathan Rosa, Timothy J. San Pedro, Daniel Walsh, Casey Wong “All teachers committed to justice and equity in our schools and society will cherish this book.” —Sonia Nieto, professor emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst “This book is for educators who are unafraid of using education to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable.” —Pedro Noguera, University of California, Los Angeles “This book calls for deep, effective practices and understanding that centers on our youths’ assets.” —Prudence L. Carter, dean, Graduate School of Education, UC Berkeley

"This well-researched volume explores how the Black freedom struggle and the anti-Vietnam War movement dovetailed with faculty and student activism in the South to undermine the traditional role of higher education and bring about social change. It offers a deep understanding of the vital importance of independent institutions during times of national crisis" --

There has been much talk and effort focused on the educational achievement gap between white versus black, Hispanic and American Indian students. While there has been some movement the gap has not appreciably narrowed, and it has narrowed the least for Native American students. This volume addresses this disparity by melding evidence-based instruction with culturally sensitive materials and approaches, outlining how we as educators and scientists can pay the educational debt we owe our children. In the tradition of the Native American authors who also contribute to it, this volume will be a series of "stories" that will reveal how the authors have built upon research evidence and linked it with their knowledge of history and culture to develop curricula, materials and methods for instruction of not only Native American students, but of all students. It provides a framework for educators to promote cultural awareness and honor the cultures and traditions that too few people know about. After each major section of the volume, the editors will provide commentary that will give an overview of these chapters and how they model approaches and activities that can be applied to other minority populations, including Blacks, Hispanics, and minority and indigenous groups in nations around the globe.

What does it mean to conduct research for justice with youth and communities who are marginalized by systems of inequality based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship status, gender, and other categories of difference? In this collection, editors Django Paris and Maisha Winn have selected essays written by top scholars in education on humanizing approaches to qualitative and ethnographic inquiry with youth and their communities. Vignettes, portraits, narratives, personal and collaborative explorations, photographs, and additional data excerpts bring the findings to life for a better understanding of how to use research for positive social change.