Introduction: a new kind of public intellectual? / by Debra A. Castillo and Stuart A. Day -- The democratic dogma: Héctor Aguilar Camín, Jorge G. Castañeda and Enrique Krauze in the neoliberal crucible / by Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado -- Engaging intellectuals: Andrés Henestrosa and Elena Poniatowska / by Debra A. Castillo -- Monsiváis in a nutshell / by María Cristina Pons -- Guadalupe Loaeza's blonded ambition: lip-synching, plagiarism, and power poses / by Emily Hind -- It's my (national) stage too: Sabina Berman and Jesusa Rodríguez as public intellectuals / by Stuart A. Day -- From accounting to recounting: Esther Chávez Cano and the articulation of advocacy, agency, and justice on the US-Mexico border / by María Socorro Tabuenca C. -- Mayan cultural agency through performance: Fortaleza de la mujer Maya-fomma / by Elvira Sánchez-Blake -- María Novaro: feminist filmmaking as public voice / by David William Foster -- The masked intellectual: Marcos and the speech of the rainforest / by Oswaldo Estrada -- Javier Sicilia: public mourning for the sons of mexico / by Javier Barroso