This article describes the different forms of students' moral discourse at a Mexican secondary school, paying special attention to their judgments about teachers' arbitrary use of authority, pedagogical formality, and favoritism. The article then analyzes the historical and cultural roots of this discourse. Taking issue with situationist and organizational explanations of pupil resistance, the author argues that to fully understand student's moral discourse at this school, one must examine the historical changes in local social relations and recently emergent cultural conceptions of “rights” that inform this discourse.
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