ILR Directory

Maria Lorena Cook holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.  She has written about Mexican trade unions and politics, labor law reform in Latin America, trade and labor rights, and regional integration and transnational social movements in North America. Her books include The Politics of Labor Reform in Latin America: Between Flexibility and Rights (2007); Organizing Dissent: Unions, the State, and the Democratic Teachers' Movement in Mexico (1996); The Politics of Economic Restructuring: State-Society Relations and Regime Change in Mexico (1994, co-editor); and Regional Integration and Industrial Relations in North America (1994, co-editor). 

Cook's latest research looks at global migration movements, border security policies, and the role of migrant advocacy groups in shaping public debates over unauthorized migration. Her research draws on cases located in three world regions: the U.S.-Mexico border, southern Spain, and Australia, where the focus is on asylum seekers. She has related interests in immigration detention and is a member of the International Detention Coalition. She also maintains a website on global migration aimed at educators and students.

Professor Cook teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on labor movements and industrial relations in Latin America, Mexican politics, labor and trade in the Americas, and comparative migrations.  She has taught for Cornell Abroad in Seville, Spain, where she served as Resident Director of the program in 2001-02. She chaired the ILR School's International Programs Committee from 2002-05.

Professor Cook is the ILR faculty advisor for the concentrations in International Relations and Latin American Studies, and she supervises graduate students in the fields of Government, Industrial and Labor Relations, International Development, Latin American Studies, and Public Affairs.