Citizens in the Present: Youth Civic Engagement in the Americas

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments It was through Harold Richman that this project became a reality. His lifelong commitment to research and advocacy on behalf of youth around the world helped inspire this project. It is to his memory that we dedicate this book. His invitation to Maria de los Angeles Torres to spend a year as a fellow at Chapin Hall allowed her to develop this project. Through him, Irene Rizzini was introduced to the project, and she in turn brought Norma Del Río. Very special thanks to Pastora San Juan Cafferty, who made the initial introductions and was a lifelong mentor and friend. At Chapin Hall, Mark Courtney enthusiastically supported our project— as did Ada Skyles and Robert Chaskin. Miguel Satut, formerly of the Kellogg Foundation, generously supported our efforts, facilitated our meetings, and made possible the three youth publications that emerged from our interviews . Irene Rizzini held two fellowships during the course of the work that greatly aided her participation: the visiting chair in Brazilian Cultural Studies at the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame in 2006 and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellow in 2008. At our respective universities we have many to thank, including Nilda Flores González, Amalia Pallares, and Ralph Cintron, who participated at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s conference on Engaged Youths and gave us critical feedback. Cathy Cohen, Jim Block, and Molly Andolina did as well. Irene Rizzini is grateful for the support for and recognition of her work from her colleagues at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. At the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Luz María Chapela and Samuel Salinas presented the youths’ publication. We all worked with committed and amazing students: In Chicago, Dolores Muñoz, Phoebe Connolly, and Nawojka Lesinski; in Mexico City, Nathalie Coutu and Santiago Martínez Rubio. In Rio, we are grateful to the CIESPI research team, particularly Paula Caldeira, Marcelo Princeswal, Alessandra Caldeira , and Denise Barros. Professor Udi Mandel Butler from Bristol University has made an important contribution to this and other research projects. xiv • acknowledgments Childwatch International gave us the opportunity to meet and discuss our project with colleagues throughout the Americas, especially Gloria Lopez and Yuherqui Guaimaro of CENDIF of the Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas and Graciela Tonon and her team of the Universidad de Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, who are applying our methodology to the study of activists in their respective countries. Ileana Orozo worked her editorial magic on our multilingual, multidisciplinary writings. We are deeply appreciative of our colleagues at the University of Illinois Press, especially Joan Catapano, Larin McLaughlin, and Willis Regier, who believed in this project and shepherded it through various stages. To our reviewers we owe special thanks for their insightful suggestions. We are most grateful to the activists who trusted us with their personal experiences. Each of us is also deeply appreciative of the support that our husbands have given us through these years; Matthew Piers, Malcolm Bush, and Ignacio Durán. We also dedicate this book to them. Citizens in the Present ...