Antonio Torres-Ruiz

Antonio Torres-Ruiz (M.A. and PhD. from UofT) is a Senior Lecturer, Level II, in the Department of Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto (UofT). He studied Economics and International Relations in Mexico at the undergraduate level. Before joining UTSC, he taught at York University (as full-time faculty for four years in the Equity Studies program) as well as in the Centre for International Studies at El Colegio de México and at ITAM (Both of them in Mexico City). A significant part of his research work deals with democratization, comparative studies, human rights, identity politics, global political economy, sustainable human development, and globalization, with a special focus on the Americas. His published contributions include articles and book reviews for several academic journals such as Latin American Research Review (U.S.), International Journal (Canada), Historia, Ciencias, Saude (Brazil), Journal of Latin American Studies (U.K.), Latin American Politics and Society (U.S.), Working Papers Series, CIDE (Mexico), and Crítica Contemporánea (Uruguay). He also co-authored a book chapter and co-edited a volume on contentious politics in North America with the late UofT professor Stephen Clarkson and contributed with a chapter on The NGOization of HIV/AIDS activism in Mexico to the three-volume analysis titled Global HIV/AIDS Politics, Policy, and Activism: Persistent Challenges and Emerging Issues, edited by Raymond Smith (Columbia University), published by Praeger. More recently, he published a single-authored book on The Political Economy of HIV/AIDS in Mexico, by Common Ground Research Networks, University of Illinois Research Park (May 2018). Two of his most recent projects are: a) a critique of political science as a discipline, with a special focus on the ontology and genealogy of democracy, the human rights discourse, and populism, and b) A Ford Foundation-supported project on Afro-descendants and participatory action research in Cuba and Mexico. 

Associate Fellow and Ford Foundation Grantee, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), York University.

Certified as Mentor on Community Based Research (CBR), by the UNESCO Chair in CBR and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, and a member of its Knowledge for Change (K4C) Network.

Active Member of the Living Knowledge Network (University of Groningen, https://livingknowledge.org/

Board Member of Magtayaní, A.C.

Most recent book: Torres-Ruiz, Antonio. 2018. HIV/AIDS and Democratization in Mexico: A Tale of a Globalized Struggle for Human Rights and Development. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Research Networks. doi:10.18848/978-1-61229-893-1/CGP.

Professional website: https://utoronto.academia.edu/AntonioTorresRuiz