Objective:

The essay approaches in a comparative way some aspects that are present in the history of the union movements organized by Argentine, Brazilian, Colombian and Mexican university professors.

Originality/contribution:

There are no academic studies that seek to establish a critical and comparative historical examination of the political role of teachers’ unions in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico in the face of the mishaps imposed by the counter neoliberal university reform.

Method:

The methodology that governed the work is primarily based on qualitative interviews; literature review; collection and analysis of materials and information from the entities themselves and other sources that could better contribute to the understanding of the subject studied.

Strategies/information collection:

The privileged instrument for captu ring these reports was the application of semi-structured qualitative interviews (primary source). Also, the collection of materials produced by the entities themselves, as well as by teaching institutions, researchers, statistical institutes, and other organizations that could contribute elements for document analysis, composed an important source (primary and/or secondary) for the construction of historical contexts and national politicians analyzed.

Conclusions:

We conclude that a common element in the production of the educational field is the predominance of analyzes of a national nature, closely associated with conflicts of regional scope. The challenge imposed on the international articulation of trade union movements reflects on the production in the area, despite the fact that Latin American educational policies for higher education originate from recommendations from organizations that operate at an international level. Financial capital and its agents are already articulated in the global sphere, but workers still act on a national scale and overcoming the national limit seems, for the time being, to be a still distant goal.

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