The rich data alone make this book worth reading and owning. Levinson is very well read and his list of references is impressive. "One of the strongest aspects of this work is its theoretical sophistication. " - Lionel Cantú, Contemporary Sociology Levinson has written a book that is a wonderful asset for any course that examines questions of class, gender, ethnicity, and social inequality. he book provides a must read for students of cultural production. rovides keen insight into the embeddedness of students’ lives in larger social structures and processes. its scope is wide enough to interest a variety of readers beyond those interested specifically in Mexican education. With 433 pages of detailed and critical insight. "Levinson’s book has much promise, and prospective readers will be happy to know that the author delivers. Although the research was done in one school, its findings may be valid for thousands of schools in hundreds of cities." - Carlos Ornelas, Latin American Research Review "Levinson offers his scholarly study in literary language in fact, I read the book easily as a collection of short stories. "Because Levinson has such an encyclopedic lexicon and broad understanding, readers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds will appreciate the transparency of language and argument in this important book." - David Post and Kimberly Rogers, American Journal of Education " powerful critical ethnography of Mexican student culture and identity formation." - Octavio Augusto Pescador, Comparative Education Review We Are All Equal is well suited for graduate and undergraduate upper-level courses in educational institutions, social and cricital theory, Latin American studies, Mexican studies, qualitative methods, and race and ethnic relations.” - Catherine Fobes, American Journal of Sociology “Levinson’s work is valuable for its careful methodology, its illuminating study of Mexican education and adolescent culture, and its contribution to discussions of reproduction theory and resistance theory. The book draws on poignant and illuminating interviews.” -, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education “In this, the first full-length ethnography of a Mexican secondary school available in English, Bradley Levinson observes student life at a provincial Mexican junior high school. Levinson’s understanding from an ethnic perspective, as one who identifies closely with the ethnic perspectives of students, aptly fits Paul Willis’s definition of ethnography.” - Martha Montero-Sieburth, Anthropology & Education Quarterly This book is for those who want to critically understand Mexican student culture, and who want to develop conceptualization and theory building in relation to cultural production and critical ethnography. We Are All Equal will be of particular interest to educators, sociologists, Latin Americanists, and anthropologists. Finally, he extends his study to trace whether the cultural game is reinforced or eroded after graduation as well as its influence relative to the forces of family, traditional gender roles, church, and global youth culture. Finding that an ethic of solidarity is sometimes used to condemn students defined as different or uncooperative and that little attention is paid to accommodating the varied backgrounds of the students-including their connection to indigenous, peasant, or working class identities-Levinson reveals that their “schooled identity” often collapses in the context of migration to the United States or economic crisis in Mexico. He also engages cultural studies, media studies, and globalization theory to examine the impact of television, music, and homelife on the students and thereby better comprehend-and problematize-the educational project of the state. Levinson observes student life at a provincial Mexican junior high, often drawing on poignant and illuminating interviews, to study how the the school’s powerful emphasis on equality, solidarity, and group unity dissuades the formation of polarized peer groups and affects students’ eventual life trajectories.Įxploring how students develop a cultural “game of equality” that enables them to identify-across typical class and social boundaries-with their peers, the school, and the nation, Levinson considers such issues as the organizational and discursive resources that students draw on to maintain this culture. We Are All Equal is the first full-length ethnography of a Mexican secondary school available in English. Labor and Working-Class History Association.Association for Middle East Women's Studies.Author Resources from University Presses.Journals fulfilled by DUP Journal Services.