Introduction Juan A. Bogliaccini and Aldo Madariaga Part I. Skills as Societal Values Chapter 1: Latin America's Education Systems in Comparative Perspective, 1945-2021: Patterns and Puzzles Agustina S. Paglayan and Katy Norris Chapter 2: The Value(s) of Education: On the Link between Skill Formation Regimes and Mass Public Attitudes in Latin America Marius R. Busemeyer Chapter 3: The Neglected Middle: Education in Latin America After a Half-Century of Reform Stephen Kosack Chapter 4: Technocratic Reform and Value-Based Opposition: The Pedagogical Movement of Colombia Christopher Chambers-Ju and Corrina Sullivan Part II. The Historical Underpinnings of Education and Skills Formation Chapter 5: Vocational Training Institutions in Latin America: Imported, Indigenous, and/or Mestizo? Andrew Schrank Chapter 6: Political Regimes, Reform Coalitions and Skill Formation: A Sub-national Comparative Perspective Fulya Apaydin Chapter 7: State Building, Education Centralization, and the Colonial Legacies of Racial Capital David N. Lopez Chapter 8: Early Childhood Education Policies, Delegated Provision, and Skills-Enhancing Goals in Latin America Melina Altamirano Part III. The Political Economy of Investment in Skills Chapter 9: Immigrants and Refugees in the Skill Systems of Middle-Income Countries Merve Sancak Chapter 10: The Skills Formation Challenge in Latin America: States, Firms, and Clusters in High-Tech Sectors Mariana Rangel-Padilla Chapter 11: Education for all? Structural Inequality in Latin America and the Broken Promise of Mobility Denisse Gelber and Carolina Castillo

Juan A. Bogliaccini, PhD, is Professor of Political Sciences in the Department of Social Sciences at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay (UCU). He is the author of Empowering Labor: Leftist Approaches to Wage Policy in Latin America and several articles published at leading journals in the field. His research focuses on the political economy of distribution, on issues related to labor policy, skill formation, and human security. Aldo Madariaga, PhD, is Associate Professor at Universidad Diego Portales, Chile, and director of the Max Planck-UDP Group Challenges of Green Growth. His research interests are comparative and international political economy, growth models, and sustainable development. His book Neoliberal Resilience: Lessons in Democracy and Development from Latin America and Eastern Europe received honorable mentions for best book by ISA and SASE.

Selling point: Examines the education problem in 21st-century Latin America from a political economy perspective Selling point: Brings the Latin American region into the debates about the political economy of education in the world Selling point: Discusses vocational and technical education and training (VET) in the region Selling point: Offers key insights for policy makers and practitioners to understand the successes and failures of existing education policies in Latin America