ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we discuss inclusive education in Latin America in the context of global educational reform initiatives, specifically, the growing commitment to provide an inclusive education for all individuals. We highlight the socio-historical contexts of inclusive education in Latin America as embodied in tensions stemming from the dialectics of the global and the local, the pressures to achieve economic development while strengthening democratic traditions and institutions, and the expectations to invest in and sustain inclusive educational systems that serve the needs of all culturally diverse populations. We use a case example to illustrate the development of inclusive education in one Latin American country, namely Mexico. The case example sheds light on the mediating role of the aforementioned tensions that emerge in the midst of the changing socio-cultural, economic, and political realities of a country.
