Presentation

Abstract

In this issue of the journal Sekkan, we offer four articles focused on different social phenomena rooted in specific periods of Mexico’s contemporary history.

First, in the article “The Personification of Institutions: Civil Sphere and Human Rights in the Ayotzinapa Case”, Carlos Labastida Salinas, from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso-Mexico), analyzes the performances carried out by the federal government and by the families of the 43 students from the “Raúl Isidro Burgos” Normal School of Ayotzinapa, who disappeared on September 26, 2014, as well as those of the Non-Governmental Human Rights Organizations (NGOs) that legally represent them. In order to understand the narratives of certain social sectors and to analyze the characteristics of the human rights discourse mobilized by NGOs, the author examined press conferences and press releases, as well as opinion columns published in national newspapers, using the approach of cultural sociology. Labastida concludes that the human rights discourse did not actually influence the construction of narratives and that, although the discussion focused on the contamination of the adversary, the suffering of the families was unanimously attributed a status of purity and authenticity.

For their part, in the article “Sleep Quality: Crisis and Psychological Therapy in University Women”, the authors from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa—Marisol Elizalde-Monjardin, Liliana Jazmín Salcido-Cibrián, Ana Gloria Urías Salazar, Nidia Micaela López-Leyva, and Nadia Guadalupe Zazueta-García—analyze changes in habits and lifestyle, as well as behaviors and emotions during the confinement period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors aimed to identify sleep quality in female university students. A total of 328 mostly single female students participated. The authors found that sleep duration decreased among those who work and study, and that during this period, participants undergoing psychological treatment made greater use of sleeping medication. They conclude that in women’s mental health, female self-care and evidence-based therapy are fundamental.

“‘For the Freedom of Brave and Self-Sacrificing Women!’ Socialist Education in Northeastern Mexico, 1934–1940” is the article presented by Denisse Alisa Palomo Ligas, graduate of the Master’s Program in History at the Autonomous University of Coahuila. The author addresses the divisions caused within Mexican society by President Lázaro Cárdenas’ socialist education project. She explains the characteristics of the 1934 reform in the educational system, which aimed at providing students with rational and scientific knowledge, while giving priority to secular and free education for rural communities. The author analyzes how women in Saltillo, Monterrey, and Torreón became involved in this project. She highlights the contribution of female teachers and mothers within this new teaching model. She also examines the opposition from journalists and devout women who rejected certain teachings, such as sex education, because they perceived them, from their perspective, as a hidden form of indoctrination.

Finally, in his article “Family and Neighborhood Life in the Contemporary Formation of Anarchist Activism in Mexico”, Guillermo Claudio Piedras, from the Metropolitan Autonomous University, presents the results of his research on anarchist activism in present-day Mexico City, based on an analysis of generational cohorts spanning three decades from the 1980s to the 2000s. Using seven life stories, the author explains the influence of family and neighborhood experiences on the shaping of anarchist practice. He identifies a shift from traditional family models toward more horizontal structures. Likewise, he highlights the emergence of solidarities linked to the family home and the reorganization of domestic roles as elements that contribute to dissident activism. Furthermore, the author examines the neighborhood environment as either a catalyst or an obstacle to politicization and concludes that anarchist activism responds to relational processes in which family ties, everyday morality, generational experiences, and historical moments are incorporated.

In short, we hope that these four articles in this issue of Sekkan will greatly contribute to incorporating new knowledge and perspectives into scientific endeavors. Enjoy your reading.

Carlos Recio Dávila
Editorial Director
Sekkan. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Mexico, 2025.