Patronage systems, Authoritarian Spaces, Conformity

Why This Is Needed

We humans tend to watch events through what is familiar to us. It’s easy to look at both through a Western American lens when watching Russia and now the Middle East. It is what is utterly familiar to us. It comes with inherent blind spots. We all tend to default our analysis through lived experience or societal expectations. I admit that my experience makes watching these two societies easier because my experience is somewhat similar to what we see in Russia and Gaza. So, there is a visceral level of understanding because I heard stories growing up. Granted, I was isolated from some of the worst elements because I was an upper-class child.

In some ways, I benefited from the system.

But there is also academic work, so first, let me explain Mexico, the country I grew up in, and the subject of my master’s degree study. Mexico is a society in transition. For the last twenty-five years, it has been since a genuine multiparty democracy took form. However, the previous six years have seen a retreat from this more modern way, in some ways a Western way, of doing things. Patronage has returned, starting with the educational system. This system has rejected the use of continuing education or knowledge testing of teachers. Why? Some tests were impossible for teachers in impoverished…