Sekkan Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades
Sekkan, Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, is a biannual publication edited by the Autonomous University of Coahuila through its Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies. It is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that employs a double-blind evaluation process. The journal is committed to disseminating knowledge produced with methodological and theoretical rigor.
Authors who publish in Sekkan retain copyright of their work and agree to the terms of publication under a Creative Commons license. Upon submission and acceptance, authors grant the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila the right to publish their article in open access, including reproduction, distribution, and public communication, provided that proper attribution is given and the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.
In 1918, four years after the Great War had begun, an influenza pandemic started its journey across the world. In the story Pale Horse, Pale Rider, by Catherine Ann Porter, first published by The Southern Review in 1939, the writer describes the frustrated love story of a journalist and a soldier who fall ill during the influenza pandemic; she loses consciousness and, upon recovering it, learns that the young man has died. The final lines of the story point to the impact that the global armed conflict and sanitary disaster left on those who survived them: “No more war, no more plague, only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns; noiseless houses with the shades drawn, empty streets, the dead cold light of tomorrow. Now there would be time for everything” (Porter, 196: 165).1 Incidentally, this was not only the case of the protagonist, but also that of Porter herself, who worked as a reporter for a Denver newspaper during the war and was one of the people struck by influenza. It is said that her relatives had already arranged the preparations for her burial and written her obituary when, inexplicably, she showed signs of life and later recovered (Unrue cited by Brooker, 2009: 214). The writer would later say: “The plague of influenza simply divided my life, cut it across like that” (Porter cited by Brooker, 2009: 215).2 For a disease to become epidemic and, even more so, pandemic means that this individual tragedy is repeated thousands, hundreds of thousands, or, as in this case, millions of times, thereby altering the economic, political, social, and cultural structure of a society. That is why it was strange that so little had been written about this pandemic. As historian Alfred W. Crosby points out, both in literature and in historiography, for a long time there was a kind of collective amnesia regarding the influenza of 1918-1920, despite the fact that over the course of two years it infected one third of all the inhabitants of the Earth; more people died in it than in World War I and, depending on our age, they were our great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, or great-great-great-grandparents, perhaps because it was difficult to articulate the trauma caused by the arrival of influenza at a time when the world’s population was expecting peace.
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This issue of Sekkan represents a different experience of knowledge. On the one hand, it is the first issue of this journal in which the contents are part of a thematic dossier, in this case on the history of epidemics and pandemics. The work of Ana María Carrillo Farga, as guest editor, together with the Sekkan editorial team, has been essential in its development. Dr. Carrillo has an extensive career as a full professor in the Department of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine of UNAM and as coordinator of the International Seminar on the History of Medicine and Public Health. Her knowledge and experience have strengthened the development of this issue of Sekkan, which brings together four articles by authors from two different Latin American countries, Argentina and Mexico. These articles address the pandemics of cholera, AIDS, and COVID-19, as well as endemic, epidemic, and pandemic diseases. In addition, this issue includes three reviews of valuable books on pandemics that have been published recently. The quality of the articles, together with the meticulous work involved in their selection and review, guarantees significant contributions to knowledge in this field.
This issue of SEKKAN confirms that the social sciences and the humanities continue to be a privileged space for critically examining the challenges of contemporary higher education. The works gathered here do not appear as isolated pieces, but rather as part of a shared conversation on inclusion, student retention, professional training, a culture of peace, pedagogical mediation, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and institutional responsibility. As a whole, this volume reveals a shared concern: understanding how to sustain the human dimension of the educational experience in a context shaped by inequalities, technological transformations, and new demands for quality, relevance, and justice. One of the major contributions of this issue is its attention to student trajectories and to the conditions that make it possible to learn, remain in school, and project oneself professionally. The article on educational screenings shows the need for timely detection mechanisms to support students through a more preventive and comprehensive tutoring approach. In a convergent direction, the work on economic violence and peace makes visible how material and family conditions affect the academic experience, emotional stability, and the possibility of experiencing education from a culture of peace. Read together, both texts remind us that the university cannot be reduced to managing enrollment or outcomes: it must learn to recognize vulnerabilities, accompany processes, and build responses that are sensitive to the concrete realities of its students.
In this issue of Sekkan, the editorial committee has teamed up with Enrique Roberto Peralta Mazariego, research professor at the Technological University of Cancún, who served as guest editor. This collaboration has strengthened the experiences involved in the journal’s production process, from the call for papers, the reception and evaluation of articles, to the publication of this issue. Peralta Mazariego has focused his research work on the educational field in southeastern Mexico, particularly on technostress among students, the internationalization of higher education, and tutoring programs. In 2024, he was recognized with the Quintana Roo State Award for Humanities, Science, Technology, and Innovation for his research project on organizational sustainability. His work as guest editor has consolidated this issue of Sekkan, which brings together seven articles by authors from institutions in southeastern Mexico on topics related to education: ethical frameworks for AI, relational pedagogical mediation and technological automation, teaching competencies in telesecundaria, integrative coursework in professional training, university students in relation to economic violence and peace, academic tutoring, and institutional skills for agricultural logistics scaling in a specific community. We are certain that the quality of the articles, as well as their relevance and soundness, offer significant contributions to knowledge in the social sciences.
Educational Screenings: A Key to Academic Tutoring
The objective of this study is to analyze the importance of screenings within academic tutoring as a strategy to strengthen student retention and integral development in upper secondary and higher education. This study assumes that the timely application of screenings makes it possible to identify academic, emotional, and social risk factors that may affect students’ educational trajectories. The methodological design follows a qualitative, non-experimental, descriptive-interpretative approach, supported by participant observation, case analysis, and the systematic use of diagnostic instruments in diverse educational contexts. The theoretical framework integrates contributions from socio-emotional education, academic and social integration theory, and comprehensive education approaches. Results indicate that screenings support the early detection of relevant risk conditions, enabling more precise, differentiated, and contextualized interventions. These interventions have a positive effect on student retention, emotional well-being, and decision-making processes. As a limitation, the study is based on situated experiences, which may restrict the generalization of findings; however, its implications are valuable for the design and improvement of institutional tutoring programs. The originality of the study lies in the systematization of tutoring practice through a diagnostic-based approach applied in real educational settings. It is concluded that integrating screenings into academic tutoring represents a key strategy to promote educational equity, enhance personalized support, and foster students’ integral development in a sustainable and context-sensitive manner.
Rafael Ernesto Cabrera Albores Correo electrónico:
Institutional soft skills for agricultural logistics upgrading in Coyuca de Benítez
This study analyzed the barriers to linkage between technological higher education and the productive sector in Coyuca de Benítez, Mexico, which limit institutional articulation processes in rural contexts. The objective was to derive an institutional model based on soft skills that supports agricultural logistics upgrading. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design with a cross-sectional, descriptive, and interpretative scope was employed. The quantitative phase included a non-probabilistic sample of 58 students in the eighth four-month academic term, which represents 11.2% of a total enrollment of 517 students, to whom a Likert-scale questionnaire was administered. The qualitative phase incorporated semi-structured interviews with five faculty members and eight local entrepreneurs. Data analysis combined descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, enabling source triangulation. The findings revealed that the main barriers in linkage processes are communicational and structural; 94.8% of students perceived insufficient institutional engagement mechanisms, while 67% considered local professional opportunities to be limited. It is concluded that strengthening skills such as communication and leadership constitutes a key element to improve linkage processes and enhance technology transfer in rural contexts.
Impact of the integrative course on professional training
This research examines the impact of the Integrative Course, based on Project-Based Learning (PBL), on the professional training of 52 students and graduates from the Business Innovation and Marketing program at the Universidad Tecnológica de Cancún. Adopting a qualitative descriptive approach, the study is theoretically grounded in PBL as a driver for real-world problem-solving and transversal competency development. Findings reveal that 46 % of participants apply interdisciplinary knowledge to a great extent, and 44 % utilize critical thinking skills daily in their professional environments. The study concludes that the course significantly enhances employability and professional profiles, serving as an effective bridge between theory and practice. However, limitations regarding the applicability of specific content to certain professional domains suggest a need for more flexible methodological strategies. The originality of this work lies in the direct evaluation of competency transfer from the classroom to the contemporary labor market.
University Youth Facing Economic Violence and Peace Challenges
Where there is neither security nor stability, peace can hardly be achieved. The objective of this research is to analyze how economic violence influences or hinders students’ education, academic development, and their ability to live within a culture of peace. The study was conducted using a quantitative, descriptive, and non-experimental approach, with a non-probabilistic convenience sample. An online survey consisting of 20 questions was administered to 139 students from the Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Marketing. The theoretical framework defines economic violence as any action or omission that affects and economic survival by limiting access to resources, goods, or income, thereby creating dependency. In the educational context, this issue negatively impacts academic performance by generating adverse emotional and personal conditions, which may lead to low achievement or even school dropout. The results show that 50% of the students both study and work. Additionally, 23% have experienced financial control by a family member or partner, with 11.8% reporting that this occurs frequently. Furthermore, 14.4% have been denied financial resources for their university studies, while 22.3% feel that economic violence has limited their academic opportunities. Likewise, 12.9% report having received financial support conditioned on obedience or favors.In conclusion, economic violence is a reality affecting university students, undermining their overall well-being and their ability to develop within a culture of peace. It is essential to strengthen guidance and psychological support strategies to help students cope with these situations and to promote educational environments free from violence.
Teaching Competencies for Educational Inclusion in Telesecundaria, Zone 13, Tabasco
This study aims to analyze the teaching competencies required for educational inclusion in Telesecundaria School Zone 13 in Tabasco, in order to propose training strategies that strengthen the teaching-learning process for students in vulnerable situations. The research follows a quantitative, exploratory-descriptive approach with a non-experimental design, using a survey applied to six teachers from the “Guillermo Prieto” telesecundaria school. The theoretical framework is based on Piaget’s constructivism, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which support diversity-oriented educational practices. The results show that, although teachers demonstrate conceptual knowledge and a positive disposition toward inclusion, there are areas for improvement in the use of diversified teaching strategies, information and communication technologies, and knowledge of current educational policies. Additionally, key competencies such as the development of differentiation strategies are lacking. The main limitation of the study is the small sample size, which prevents generalization but allows for a contextualized diagnostic of the studied setting. This research provides value by offering context-based knowledge and practical teacher training proposals aligned with current educational policies. It is concluded that strengthening continuous teacher training is essential for developing inclusive competencies, promoting equitable learning environments and effective attention to student diversity.
Relational pedagogical mediation and technological automation in higher education: a scoping review from the TRIC paradigm
The digitalization of higher education, intensified by the global health crisis and the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI), has configured learning environments primarily oriented toward operational efficiency, with documented implications for the relational dimension of the educational process. This article examines the role of the Relational Factor (R Factor) within the TRIC paradigm (Technologies of Relationship, Information and Communication) as a conceptual framework for understanding and reorienting teaching practices in digital higher education contexts. A scoping review was conducted following the Arksey and O’Malley (2005) protocol, based on a systematic search in Scopus, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Redalyc, and SciELO, limited to the period 2016-2026. The final analytical corpus consisted of 45 sources selected according to explicit criteria of conceptual relevance and academic quality. The findings identify three main mechanisms through which technological automation erodes the pedagogical bond: the depersonalization of feedback, the temporal compression of reflection, and the normalization of student isolation. Building on this diagnosis, the article proposes relational pedagogical mediation, articulated across diagnostic, design, and ethical dimensions, as both an analytical category and a professional practice for teaching in technology-mediated environments. The need for empirical research in Latin American contexts examining the impact of these practices on variables such as academic persistence and institutional belonging is also identified. The study concludes that technological integration in higher education requires incorporating the relational dimension as a central criterion in pedagogical design, teacher training, and educational quality assessment.
Ethical frameworks for AI and academic integrity regulations
This article analyzes how international ethical principles on artificial intelligence can be transformed into institutional criteria for academic integrity in teaching and research. Based on qualitative research using comparative document analysis, the author reviews regulatory frameworks, specialized literature, and university guidelines to identify areas of convergence, tension, and gaps. The text argues that, although a solid international ethical foundation already exists on issues such as transparency, human oversight, accountability, and equity, universities still exhibit insufficient, reactive, and ineffective regulatory responses to generative AI. Among its main contributions is the proposal to articulate AI ethics with a broader vision of academic integrity, not limited to plagiarism, but understood as ethical training, responsible authorship, and a redesign of assessment practices. Its value lies in offering a useful roadmap for updating institutional policies in higher education, especially in Latin American contexts where binding regulatory frameworks are still lacking.
Body, word and community: literature and medicine in Fourteen Days, edited by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston
Fourteen Days is a singular novel situated at an especially fertile point of intersection: the crossroads of literature, illness, isolation, and community life. Emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic, the work was conceived as a collective writing project in which various authors, members of the Authors Guild, with very different trajectories, styles, and registers, give voice to the inhabitants of a Manhattan building who, confined by the same health emergency, gather—maintaining safe distance—on the building’s rooftop and share stories of all kinds over fourteen consecutive nights, resulting in an exquisite narrative polyphony. Throughout the novel there is intertextuality with many literary works, some related to epidemics. However, it is neither a copy of a model nor merely a display of erudition; in Fourteen Days, the act of narrating reveals its deepest meaning: in the face of illness, uncertainty, and the constant threat of death, telling stories becomes a way of sustaining oneself, of accompanying one another, and of resisting; recording them becomes a way of not dying.
Disrupting everyday life: influenza, and COVID-19 in Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina (1918-2020)
When in 2020 the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 an international public health emergency, health ministers in many countries called on the population to stay at home or established other control measures. This scenario led to new forms of social interaction; the world changed significantly: distance education and remote work, together with the interruption of economic and cultural activities considered “non-essential”, and even the ways of greeting, washing hands and sneezing were transformed. This generated an alteration in everyday life and led to what was called a “new normality”. Faced with this dramatic situation arises the problem of how to understand this transition from what was a normality to what was called a new one. The book Normalidad transformada por la influenza y la COVID-19 en México, Cuba y Argentina offers examples of how everyday life and society changed with the arrival of new viruses. The work, published in 2024, includes in its 360 pages thirteen contributions divided into three sections: “The ‘Spanish’ flu of 1918–1919. Case studies and health interventions”; “Other influenza pandemics: from the Mao flu to swine flu”; and “Living the complexity of COVID-19. Between the new normality and the challenges ahead”.
Causes and implications of forgetfulness in the history of pandemics: the case of the 1918-1920 influenza in Latin America
The result of a seminar that began meeting during the COVID-19 quarantine, The Pandemic of Forgetfulness. Studies on the Impact of Influenza in Latin America, 1918–1920 was the first product of joint research of what is now called the Permanent Seminar on Historical and Social Studies of Endemics and Epidemics in Ibero-America (SPEHSEEI). The book, consisting of 355 pages, includes an introduction and ten chapters on the 1918–1919 influenza or flu pandemic, each focusing on a country in Latin America: seven analyze the pandemic at the national level—Argentina (Adrián Carbonetti, María Alejandra Fantín and María Laura Rodríguez), Brazil (Liane Maria Bertucci and Anny Jackeline Torres Silveira), Chile (Alexandrine de La Taille-Trétinville U), Costa Rica (Ana María Botey Sobrado), Honduras (Yesenia Martínez), Mexico (Lourdes Márquez Morfín and América Molina del Villar) and Venezuela (Rogelio Altez); two examine the pandemic in a capital city—La Paz, Bolivia (Nigel Caspa) and Guatemala City (Luis Alberto Arrioja Díaz Viruell); and one focuses on a region—Bocayá, in the Colombian Andes (Abel Fernando Martínez Martín, Bernardo Francisco Andrés Meléndez Álvarez, Edwar Javier Manrique Corredor and Omar Fernando Robayo Avendaño).
Health and disease in La Pampa: public policies in a new Argentine province (1945-1975)
This article details the public health policies in La Pampa (Argentina) during the second half of the twentieth century related to the control of certain epidemics and endemic diseases (tuberculosis, smallpox, venereal, Chagas’ disease and poliomyelitis). Through edited and unpublished sources, from the specialized and non-specialized press, reports of officials, censuses and other documents, advances are made in the description and analysis of the central aspects on health and disease of the population in a peripheral area of Argentina. The Pampa was a National Territory from 1884, when the lands belonging to indigenous societies were put into production, until its formation as a province in 1952. Between 1945 and 1975, the various territorial and provincial health policies underwent changes in their structure, legislation and planning, some substantive ones, which were in keeping with the events at national level or trying to solve problems specific to the socio-cultural environment of the Pampas. The population, much of it coming from overseas countries, had a relative growth, and the economic activities, linked to the agricultural-livestock operation, did not undergo major changes. In the international context of progress in social medicine, immunization campaigns and other preventive practices were consolidated in La Pampa, despite frequent replacements and political violence, that allow us to observe differences and similarities with what happened at the national level during a key period in Argentine history.
Teaching Work and Structural Inequalities during the COVID-19 Pandemic
This article analyzes the labor impacts experienced by basic education teachers in Tamaulipas, Mexico, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective is to understand how the health crisis reshaped teaching work, depending on the geographic context (rural or urban) and the sex of the teaching staff. A mixed-methods approach was used: an online questionnaire was applied to 1,035 teachers and 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Quantitative data were analyzed using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests, while qualitative data were thematically coded. The analysis draws on a critical perspective that incorporates insights from the sociology of education and gender studies to understand structural inequalities in teaching work. Results show that more than 90% of teachers reported labor-related impacts, particularly increased workload, normative ambiguity, and administrative pressure. Although no statistically significant differences were found, qualitative data reveal unequal conditions: in rural areas, technological limitations led to face-to-face strategies without institutional support, and female teachers faced a triple workload across pedagogical, administrative, and domestic tasks.
HIV/AIDS in Buenos Aires Province during the 1990’s: Discourses, Policies, and Public Health
During the 1990s, the province of Buenos Aires navigated the tension between the rigidity of public policies and the urgency of social problems requiring immediate responses. Under the governorship of Eduardo Duhalde (1991–1999), provincial authorities faced challenges that went beyond routine administration, within a national context shaped by the structural reforms and fiscal adjustment promoted by President Carlos Menem. In this setting, public health—and HIV/AIDS in particular—emerged as a contested arena marked by tensions between prevention, stigma, and state legitimacy. From 1995 onward, under the leadership of Health Minister Juan José Mussi, the provincial Ministry of Health developed a specific approach to the epidemic. This article, derived from the doctoral research Reform and Public Health in Dispute: The Case of the Province of Buenos Aires (1991–1999), examines these responses through the analysis of legislative sources, official discourses, and press materials. Adopting a historical-interpretative perspective that combines the cultural and political history of health with approaches that understand HIV/AIDS as a moral, political, and biopolitical phenomenon, the study seeks to interpret the epidemic not merely as a biomedical issue, but as an event that challenged forms of state legitimacy and the boundaries of public discourse on health and citizenship. The findings indicate that, despite institutional fragmentation and budgetary constraints, the province sought to construct a narrative of a pedagogical and socially responsible state through media visibility, health education initiatives, and international cooperation. This experience reveals spaces of political agency and institutional innovation that complicate the view of Buenos Aires as a passive replicator of national policies, positioning HIV/AIDS as a laboratory of governance where the relationship between technical expertise, politics, and public health was redefined.
Political Ecology and the Historical Construction of Vulnerabilities in Indigenous-Rural Mexico: The Cholera Epidemic in Chiapas, 1991-1997
This article analyzes, from a political ecology perspective, the historical processes that contributed to the construction of vulnerabilities in Chiapas and their relationship to the cholera epidemic that occurred at the end of the twentieth century. The argument is developed in three sections: the first presents key theoretical foundations of political ecology –such as the concepts of ecological debt, economic rationality, and environmental inequality– drawing on the critical approaches developed by Enrique Leff and Joan Martínez Alier, whose contributions help illustrate how power relations, development models, and the unequal distribution of resources intersect with the social production of vulnerabilities. The second section examines the interaction of specific processes that shaped structural vulnerabilities in Chiapas; and the final section explains the impact that these historically constructed vulnerabilities had during the cholera epidemic beginning in 1991. The research is based on a documentary and critical analysis of primary and secondary sources, including institutional historical archives, demographic and epidemiological data, contemporary press, community testimonies, and specialized literature. The findings show that limited access to drinking water and sanitation, precarious health services, and poverty were not circumstantial factors but expressions of a historically produced environmental injustice. The analysis demonstrates that territorial dispossession, institutional marginalization, and accumulated ecological debt contributed to greater exposure and reduced response capacity during the epidemic in Indigenous and rural communities. The main contribution of the study is to link the history of public health with long-term territorial processes, applying the principles of political ecology to a specific epidemic case. Among the limitations, the absence of direct fieldwork is acknowledged, suggesting that future research could broaden the approach through community-based and participatory methodologies.
Familial and Neighborhood Life in the Contemporary Formation of Anarchist Activism in México
This article presents the findings of a qualitative study on contemporary anarchist activism in Mexico City, based on the analysis of three generational cohorts from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Drawing from seven life histories, it explores the trajectories of activists from a situated perspective that combines the life course approach with Durkheim’s notion of the “social fact.” The objective is to understand how family and neighborhood experiences influence the formation of anarchist praxis, understood as a political practice grounded in moral, affective, and contextual dimensions. The study identifies transformations in family models, observing a shift from traditional frameworks toward more horizontal, post-traditional forms. It also highlights the emergence of organic solidarities associated with prolonged co-residence in the parental home and the reorganization of domestic roles, which foster greater openness to individual life projects, including dissident political activism. Furthermore, it analyzes how neighborhood environments can either catalyze or hinder political engagement. The research demonstrates that anarchist activism cannot be explained solely by individual ideological decisions, but rather emerges from relational processes shaped by family ties, everyday morality, generational experiences, and historical junctures.
"For the freedom of brave and self-sacrificing women!" Socialist education in Northeastern Mexico, 1934-1940
Socialist education was a project promoted by Lázaro Cárdenas from the very beginning of his presidency, and it generated deep divisions within Mexican society. With the reform of the educational system in 1934, the goal was for students to acquire rational and scientific knowledge. Particular emphasis was placed on providing secular and free education to rural communities. This article analyzes how women became involved in this educational project in the cities of Saltillo, Monterrey, and Torreón. On the one hand, it highlights the contributions of female teachers and mothers who embraced this new educational model. At the same time, it examines the opposition voiced by journalists and devout women who viewed the content taught in classrooms —such as sex education— with suspicion and regarded it as covert indoctrination.
Sleep quality: crisis and psychological therapy in university women
During the years of confinement generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, detrimental changes in habits and lifestyle, as well as in behaviors and emotions, were evident. University women, who migrated to virtual classes, developed symptoms associated with mental health, including disturbances in sleep quality, which constitutes an essential physiological function for cognitive and physical functioning. Sleep disturbances can generate adverse consequences, coupled with the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, this constitutes a risk for individuals. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the quality of sleep in university women. A total of 328 university women (M = 23.36, SD = 7.26), mostly single (85.4%), participated answering the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which evaluates seven components of sleep. Day dysfunction was found to be the component that most affected women. Duration of sleep was decreased in participants who worked and studied, and participants who received psychological treatment used sleep meds more. Five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, its aftereffects remain. Women’s sleep quality was affected, both in terms of duration of sleep and day dysfunction, in addition to the burden of university studies and work. In conclusion, female self-care and evidence-based therapy, based on psychological crises, are positioned as indispensable for women’s mental health.
The personification of institutions: civil sphere and human rights in the Ayotzinapa case
The different performances carried out by the Mexican federal government and by the families of the disappeared students of Ayotzinapa along with the human rights NGO representing them in the dispute over the veracity of the official investigation of the case were analyzed. The objective was to find out what narratives and binary codes were activated by some social sectors to interpret and participate in this dispute, and to determine whether the human rights discourse mobilized by the NGO representatives had an influence on their construction and, consequently, on the aforementioned dispute. The research was based on the theoretical-methodological framework of the strong program of cultural sociology, particularly the civil sphere theory. The performances carried out by the actors, as well as the interpretations of them in the Mexican press, were reconstructed. Throughout eight press conferences, two press releases, and 222 opinion columns published in national newspapers it was analyzed how civil and anti civil motives, relations, and institutions were attributed to actors in contention. The results showed the mobilization of two competing narratives centered on the former president Enrique Peña Nieto and a personalist binary code, concluding that the human rights discourse had no influence on the construction of these narratives and binary code used in the dispute; that the personalists code and narratives exhibit a process of personification of institutions; and that although the public discussion was based on the contamination of the, a purity status was unanimously attributed to the grieving of the students’ families.
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.
En este segundo número de la revista Sekkan se presentan cuatro artículos que abordan distintas temáticas de las ciencias sociales, desde la predicación y la retórica clásica, las prácticas de cortejo romántico en la juventud, un análisis teórico sobre la irracionalidad epistémica, así como la participación de ciudadanos en los juegos de azar en los casinos. Esto artículos han sido escritos por investigadores del Colegio de la Frontera Norte, así como de la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, y Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila. De esta manera en su artículo “Las teorías de predicación y de retórica clásica. Su enriquecimiento mutuo, según se observa en algunos tratados paradigmáticos” Arturo Zárate Ruiz revisa algunos tratados de predicación de distintos siglos los cuales, desde su perspectiva, ilustran cómo la retórica sirve, y se enriquece a la vez, con las teorías de los oradores eclesiásticos. Por su parte Jesús Gerardo Cervantes Flores y Miguel Sánchez Maldonado en el artículo “Interacciones diferenciadas por el género en el cortejo de las juventudes universitarias de Saltillo, Coahuila, México” analizan las interacciones de género durante el proceso de cortejo entre estudiantes universitarios. Los autores observan que en las interacciones de cortejo todavía se reflejan patrones de género arraigados en la masculinidad hegemónica y en las feminidades idealizadas. En el artículo “La Psicología de la Irracionalidad Epistémica: La Teoría de los Dos Procesos” Francisco José Álvarez-Montero, María Esmeralda Sánchez-Navarro y Juan Carlos Leyva López realizan una revisión teórica y analizan los fundamentos de la irracionalidad epistémica mediante tres marcos conceptuales interrelacionados: la Teoría de los Dos Procesos; las intuiciones metacognitivas; y el Modelo Tripartito de la Mente. Finalmente, el artículo “Factores socioambientales que experimentan jugadores de casinos de Culiacán, México”, de Rubén Sánchez-Ramos, aborda el tema de las prácticas de juegos de azar y de apuesta desde un enfoque cualitativo. A partir de una serie de entrevistas el autor considera la influencia de factores como la oferta y disponibilidad de los casinos, las estrategias de marketing, el confort y las relaciones sociales. Agradecemos a las personas que integran nuestro Comité Científico y al Consejo Editorial por su apoyo y acompañamiento en este proceso. A las y los lectores ofrecemos especial reconocimiento por su interés y lectura. Carlos Recio Dávila Director Editorial Sekkan. Revista de Ciencia Sociales y Humanidades México, 2025.
Socio-environmental factors to experience by casino gamblers in Culiacán, Mexico
Gambling and betting have become a consumer product since their industrialization, becoming a normalized activity since the establishment of casinos in the capital of Sinaloa in 2004. A community of gamblers has emerged in the urban space, expressing certain external motivations through socio-environmental factors linked to a particular context. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to describe and analyze the socioenvironmental factors experienced by gamblers in the city of Culiacán. A qualitative methodology with an exploratory and descriptive scope was used with the application of 12 interviews (8 women and 3 men). The results show that the main factors experienced by gamblers are the supply and availability in urban areas, marketing strategies, comfort, and social relationships that stimulate gambling in casinos. It is demonstrated that the growth of this industry is part of the expansion of the interests of large casino industries that have established an institutionalized risk environment in the community.
The Psychology of Epistemic Irrationality: Dual-Process Theory
This theoretical review examines the foundations of epistemic irrationality through three interrelated conceptual frameworks: (1) the Dual-Process Theory, which distinguishes between fast/intuitive processing (Type 1) and slow/analytical processing (Type 2); (2) metacognitive intuitions, particularly the Feeling of Rightness (FOR), which determine when Type 2 processing is activated; and (3) the Tripartite Model of Mind, which integrates autonomous (implicit processing), algorithmic (cognitive capacity), and reflective (epistemic dispositions) components. The analysis identifies two categories of key factors in epistemic irrationality: stimulators (cognitive biases, pseudoscientific beliefs, hostile environments, and contaminated mindware) and inhibitors (critical thinking, intellectual humility, metacognitive skills, and scientific knowledge). It highlights how the interaction between these elements explains phenomena such as the persistence of unfounded beliefs and the rejection of scientific evidence. The review emphasizes the mediating role of education in developing skills to monitor metacognitive intuitions and regulate cognitive processing, proposing that the balance between automatic and reflective systems, along with the cultivation of virtuous epistemic dispositions, forms the basis for adaptive rationality in complex and cognitively hostile contexts.
Gendered Interactions in Courtship among University Youths in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
In this article we examine gender interactions during the courtship process among university students in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Through a qualitative approach and the conduct of four discussion groups, patterns consistent with the concept of romantic love were identified, like male initiative versus female receptivity, driven by the fear of being judged by peers. It was observed that men tend to attract attention by demonstrating skills or talents, while women often emphasize their physical attributes. In addition, the importance men place on women’s sexual history is noted, along with a male tendency towards competition and the assertion of virility, following patriarchal patterns. Despite some changes in the narrative, courtship interactions still reflect deeply ingrained gender patterns rooted in hegemonic masculinity and idealized femininities.
Preaching theories and classical rhetorical theories. Their mutual enrichment, as observed in some paradigmatic treatises.
The aim of this essay is to review the links between theories of preaching and classical rhetorical theories by comparing some paradigmatic treatises. It is proposed that such a link exists and that it consists of a mutual enrichment, since classical theories of rhetoric strengthen preaching, and the peculiar tools of preaching in turn enhance the persuasive power of what would otherwise remain mere rhetoric of parliaments and courts. The analysis begins with the apparent impossibility of subjecting faith to rhetorical theorization or discourse because this faith is not open to a menu of possibilities from which to choose, as occurs in debates in parliaments and courts of justice. However, it is recognized that, although there is only one faith in the Church, this faith admits persuasion for people to embrace it, among other reasons because there are 1) different ways to expound the faith, 2) different ways to understand it, and, above all, 3) different ways to live it. A review of some treatises on preaching reveals that, although rhetoric is an art first theorized by “Pagans” for civil decision-making, preachers turn to it to strengthen their preaching abilities. It is also noticed that the special tasks required for their preaching illustrate the enrichment of rhetoric itself to the extent that these particular demands go beyond the initial “Pagan” ambition of speaking in parliaments and courts. These preaching treatises from different centuries, reviewed here because they are to some degree paradigmatic, illustrate how rhetoric both serves to and is enriched by the theories of ecclesiastical orators.
La revista Sekkan es una publicación de carácter científico, de periodicidad semestral y arbitrada que está interesada en publicar trabajos en donde se tejan relaciones interdisciplinarias en las áreas de las ciencias sociales y las humanidades. Por tal razón, Sekkan está interesada en publicar artículos de investigación, reseñas de libros y notas de investigación de las áreas de ciencia política, sociología, historia, trabajo social, psicología social, derecho, arquitectura, economía, lenguaje, discurso, ciencias de la comunicación y áreas afines. Los trabajos que se incluyen en este primer número son un ejemplo del espíritu que movilizó la creación de Sekkan, ser una publicación académica en la que se puedan encontrar trabajos que abordan fenómenos sociales vistos desde diferentes perspectivas. El primer artículo de José Alfredo Zavaleta Betancourt y Erick Alfonso Galán Castro, tiene por objeto analizar los principales logros de la sociología y la antropología de nuestro país acerca de la violencia, con base en documentos de revistas consideradas modelos ejemplares y libros de publicación reciente, que ofrecen puntos de vista innovadores acerca de este objeto de conocimiento. Por su parte Lucía Carmina Jasso López nos presenta una reflexión sobre el las tecnologías de vigilancia en materia de seguridad pública y su relación con la inteligencia artificial en América Latina. Ambos artículos brindado reflexiones desde la sociología sobre tres problemas relacionados la violencia, la seguridad y la video vigilancia. Lissette Yamile Granillo, Ivonne Janeth Cruz Flores y Arturo Misael Aguilar Macías, analizan desde un enfoque feminista el hecho de que las mujeres transexuales que ejercen la prostitución reciben cierta estigmatización por su oficio y su identidad sexual, misma que resulta en exclusión, y marginación social, liderada por prejuicios traídos de discursos sociales con bastante poder, que se experimenta sobre ellas. El siguiente artículo es de Juan Antonio Mercado Piedra, cuyo objetivo es desarrollar un instrumento que permita identificar las experiencias institucionales, antecedentes familiares y proyecto de vida que proporcionan competencias para el emprendimiento. El cuarto artículo, de Diego Armando Calcáneo Aguilar, presenta una reflexión sobre la Hegemonía política y cultural de lo imaginario. Ambos autores brindan miradas complejas desde la psicología para dar cuenta de reflexiones contemporáneas sobre nuevas formas de trabajo y sobre el problema cultural de lo imaginario y la política. El número incluye además tres reseñas, una de Francisco Miguel Ortiz-Delgado, sobre el libro La historia según la nueva filosofía de la historia; otra de Fátima Guzmán Rizo sobre la obra Las posibilidades de medir lo abstracto: Reivindicando la ideología en la configuración del comportamiento político. Otra más de Luis Fernando Delgado Trejo, sobre el libro Ciencia Política en Perspectiva de Género, Ciudad de México. Los tres libros analizados y las miradas reflexivas que hacen los autores de las reseñas reflejan una práctica académica que aviva la creación de pensamiento y el intercambio de ideas. Con artículos y reseñas de investigadoras e investigadores de reconocida trayectoría, y de personas que están iniciando sus actividades de investigación Sekkan lanza este primer número con una invitación a la comunidad académica de las Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, a enviar sus trabajos con el propósito de consolidar un medio de divulgación científica para el norte de México en particular, y América Latina en un futuro no muy lejano. Agradecemos a las personas que integran nuestro Comité Científico y al Consejo Editorial por su apoyo y acompañamiento en este proceso. A las autoridades de la Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila que brindaron su respaldo les agradecemos su compromiso con la producción académica. Al Consejo Mexicanos de Ciencias Sociales le extendemos un especial agradecimiento por compartir nuestras convocatorias. A las y los lectores nuestro más especial reconocimiento, sin ustedes la divulgación del conocimiento no tiene sentido. Luz Angela Cardona Acuña Directora Sekkan. Revista de Ciencia Sociales y Humanidades México, 2024.
Review. Karolina Monika Gilas y Luz María Cruz Parcero (coords.), Political Science in Gender Perspective, FCPyS – UNAM, 2021
A lo largo de su trayectoria, la Ciencia Política ha experimentado una transformación notable al integrar la perspectiva de género. Esta perspectiva se enfoca en comprender las dinámicas de poder y las desigualdades presentes en la esfera política entre hombres y mujeres en la actualidad; no obstante, es importante hacer énfasis en que “La Ciencia Política es una disciplina en la que persiste un importante sesgo de género” (Cruz Parcero y Gilas, 2021: 9). [...] En última instancia, el libro “Ciencia Política en perspectiva de género”, se erige como una herramienta fundamental para cualquier individuo interesado en adentrarse en esta disciplina y promover agendas de trabajo innovadoras, que contribuyan a construir una Ciencia Política más diversa. Tanto en términos teórico-metodológicos como empíricos; la obra exhibe una solidez considerable, gracias a la exhaustiva revisión del estado actual del feminismo que aborda la desgenerización de las entidades públicas, de sus actores y del poder en general.