In Becoming a Plebeian Leader, José Antonio Villarreal Velásquez examines situations where ordinary women and men become plebeian leaders in urban-popular neighborhoods.

Combining oral history, archival research, and ethnography, the book examines plebeian leaders’ moral careers through and within the meaningful and fluctuating connections among urban-popular neighborhoods in the city, and the nation-state from 1960 to the present time. Specifically, Villarreal Velásquez reconstructs, compares, and explains the historical, sociological, and political formation of two plebeian leaders’ moral career paths in Guayaquil (Ecuador); the skills, feelings, and knowledge they acquired to perform their tasks and operate within societal hegemonic frameworks and large-scale structural transformations.

Becoming a Plebeian Leader will be of interest to researchers studying urban popular politics in the Global South.