Drawing from case studies of marginalized individuals in Mexico and the U.S., this book explores the colonizing concept of illiteracy, as well as how the long social history of conquest and colonization, plunder and globalization, is inscribed in the personal histories of today's global outcasts.

Gregorio Hernandez-Zamora was born in Mexico City. He holds a PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture from University of California Berkeley, is a former Fulbright fellow in the U.S., and current independent scholar and professor at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). His research focuses on postcolonialism, symbolic power, and the politics of literacy. He has published essays, chronicles, and book chapters.