ABSTRACT
Neoliberal reforms have not only had an impact on teachers’ work but also on the discourse and practices of their political associations. The evidence shows a controversial situation of teacher associationism, on the one hand, implicated in the crisis of traditional organisations and, on the other, reconfigured by new forms of political participation. In this sense, this ethnographic study sought to analyse the experience of participation in an association that emerges as an alternative political force to the crisis of the traditional teachers’ association. The results show that participation implies taking on responsibilities in a political militancy that has been strained by the country’s economic opportunities and feminist discourses. The implications of militancy for the phenomenon of teacher associationism are discussed.
Keywords
Teacher associationism; Political participation; Teacher unionism; Militancy; Feminism