Biography

I specialize in comparative politics and political ethnography. My research deals with civil society organizations, social movements, and labor politics in Latin America, particularly emphasizing Brazil and Mexico. In particular, my research examines: individual and collective resistance strategies to chronic violence in informal workplaces; how marginalized people in urban areas organize themselves to claim their social and labor rights; and more generally the consequences of precariousness, informality and chronic violence on the daily life of marginalized urban populations. I also study labor markets and workers' organizations in the formal sector of the economy.  

I am co-founder of and researcher with: the Latin American Studies Network of Montreal (RELAM); the FRQSC-funded Research Group on Inclusion and Governance in Latin America (ERIGAL); the CLACSO-funded Working Group Epistemologias decoloniales, territorialidades y cultura; and with the Research Network on Domestic Labor in Latin America (RITHAL). I am also a researcher with Concordia’s Lab for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LLACS); [See below for links.]

Furthermore, I have held Visiting Professor positions at: the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Économica (CIDE, Mexico); the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP, Brazil); McGill University; the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF, Brazil); and the Universidade de São Paulo (USP, Brazil).

And I have the privilege of working in collaboration with the amazing women of the Union of Domestic Workers of the City of São Paulo (Sindicato das Trabalhadoras Domésticas do Municipio de São Paulo, STDMSP).

 https://www.facebook.com/TrabalhadorasDomesticasSP

Research Interests

Civil society organizations; social movements; resistance; precariousness; informal workplaces; chronic violence; urban periphery; marginalized/invisible people; labor politics; ethnography; Brazil; Mexico; Latin America.

Recent Funding

2020–2025      Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); Insight Grant. “Informality, Violence, and Resistance in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Co-Investigator (PI: Tina Hilgers, Concordia University). 

2020-2021       International Domestic Workers Federation (FITH). “Trabalho doméstico, violência e resistencia na cidade de São Paulo”. Principal Investigator. 

2019-2023       Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC); Soutien aux équipes de recherche –Équipes en fonctionnement. Equipe de recherche sur l'inclusion et la gouvernance en Amérique latine (Research Team on Inclusion and Governance in Latin America, ERIGAL). Co-Investigator (PI: Françoise Montambeault, Université de Montréal).

2019-2022       Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO); Grupos de Trabajo. “Espistemologías decoloniales, territorialidades y cultura”. Co-Investigator (PIs: Abelardo Gamboa, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, and Andrea Neira Cruz, Universidad Central de Colombia, Dennis de Oliveira, Universidade de São Paulo).

2019-2020       Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); Connection Grant. Support for International Conference “Resistance and Resilience: Addressing Chronic Violence in Marginalized Urban Populations in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Principal Applicant. 

2017-2020       Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); Insight Development Grant. “Fighting Invisibility: the Repertoire of Everyday Forms of Resistance to Routinized Violence among Domestic Workers in Brazil.” Principal Investigator.

2017-2019       Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC); Soutien aux équipes de recherche –Équipes en émergence. Equipe de recherche sur l'inclusion et la gouvernance en Amérique latine (Research Team on Inclusion and Governance in Latin America, ERIGAL). Co-Investigator (PI: Françoise Montambeault, Université de Montréal). 

Courses Taught

POLI 203              Introduction to Comparative Politics

POLI 301              Social Movements and Protest Politics 

POLI 379              Politics of Latin America

POLI 483              State & Society in Latin America

POLI 487A            Revolution and Social Movements

POLI 681C/811D   Revolution and Resistance

POLI 681G/811F   The State and Social Movements in Latin America

Supervision Interests

I am interested in supervising students at all academic levels (i.e. BA, MA, PhD) who share my research interests.

-Jean François Mayer. (2021). Resistance to Chronic Violence in Informal Workplaces: the Strategies of Domestic Workers in Brazil. The Bulletin of Latin American Research, 40(3).

-Jean François Mayer. (2021). Guest Editor. “Introduction to: Exploring the Repertoire of Strategies of Resistance to Routinised Violence in Informal Workplaces”. The Bulletin of Latin American Research, 40(3).

-Paul Posner, Vivina Patroni, Jean François Mayer. (2018). Laboring in Latin America: Democracy and Worker Organization in the Neoliberal Era. University of Florida Press; Gainesville, United States. 285 p.

-Jean François Mayer. (2018). Labor Relations in Mexico (1988-2012): Explaining Continuity across Regime Types. The Latin Americanist. 62(3): 344-376.

-Jean François Mayer. (2017). “Violência e Trabalho: o caso das empregadas domésticas no Brasil”. In Tina Hilgers and Jorge Luiz Barbosa (Eds.) A violência na América Latina e no Caribe – vista dos profissionais da luta em contra da violência. Observatorio das Favelas Pub.; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pp. 123-147.

-Jean François Mayer. (2016). The Limits of Labor Legislation Reforms: Rigidity, Growth and Employment in Brazil. The Journal of Politics in Latin America. 8(1): 95-127.

Research Team on Inclusion and Governance in Latin America (ERIGAL)

https://erigal.org/

Concordia’s Lab for Latin American and Caribbean (LLACS)

http://www.llacs.ca/

Latin American Studies Network of Montreal (RELAM)

http://www.relam.ca/

Red de Investigación sobre Trabajo del Hogar en América Latina (RITHAL)

https://www.facebook.com/Rithal-Red-de-Investigaci%C3%B3n-sobre-Trabajo-del-Hogar-en-Am%C3%A9rica-Latina-106986504419062

CLACSO Working Group "Epistemologias decoloniales, territorialidades y cultura"