Resisting the Neoliberal Role Model: Latino Male Mentors’ Perspectives on the Intersectional Politics of Role Modeling

Abstract

This article reports on research with two Latino male youth workers who express strong criticism of their positioning as “positive” role models for struggling Latino boys in a Latino male mentorship program. Drawing from analytic frameworks attune to the intersectional politics of race and neoliberalism, this article centers the voices of these educators to raise important questions about the neoliberal logics commonly undergirding intervention strategies aimed at boys and young men of color. In particular, these youth workers outline the ways neoliberal notions of respectability and heteropatriarchy become the expected performances for Latino men working with Latino boys. They also describe the ways they resist the positive male role model label to challenge neoliberal definitions of Latino manhood.