Raul had been conscious of his mortality for a long time.
Many years ago he came to terms with his workaholism and took serious steps to change his behaviour for the sake of his health. I know he still looked like someone who worked too hard. But those of us who have known him a long time know how much he had changed.
Yes, he got up at 4:30 am to write. But he also went to bed very early. And once shared a photo of the couch in his office on which he took a 90 minute nap each day at mid-day.
He also came very close to dying of COVID and complications of that disease, something he spoke about occasionally.
And yet we were all surprised to see that on 1 June 2026, he had left us. I do not know how. It doesn’t really matter. He is gone.
He has left behind a considerable legacy.
Raul was a very intense person. He worked hard. He frequently had 2 or 3 research projects on the go. He wrote and published many things. I’m sure his scholarly colleagues will write about that work.
He was also a committed teacher, especially of research methodologies and research practices. Raul’s commitment to teaching and supporting other researchers extended well beyond his job and is how I met him and what we shared.
Even as a graduate student, Raul was sharing techniques and practices on his blog for the benefit of others. He was active on Twitter, which is where I met him; I don’t know how long ago. Back when Twitter was somewhere worth spending time. Close to 20 years ago because I think we met up when I visited Vancouver with my family in 2007.
The more memorable visit was in 2010, I think, when I was in Vancouver for work and stayed a few extra days to hang out with him. He recommended a very nice boutique hotel downtown, around the corner from a button shop. I don’t think he knew about the button shop or how excited I’d be about it.
He showed his Vancouver. It’s a beautiful city. And it was his home. He had recently started using a co-working space, a new thing back then, and was excited to show me all the features. We walked. We went for beer. It was a fabulous day.
He spoke to me once about how hard it was to leave there even though Mexico was also his home. He has had an amazing career at CIDE and FLACSO. He has been able to spend quality time with his parents as they age. It was particularly valuable to him to be able to travel with his mother, with whom he shared intellectual interests as well.
Recently he had spoken of how hard caring work is. I cannot imagine how hard it is for his mother to lose him, her youngest son. My heart goes out to her, his dad, his brothers, and niblings. The tiny glimpses of you that he shared gave us a glimpse into how important you all were to him.
Most of our relationship happened online. We both moved from Twitter to Bluesky. We had in common a desire to help scholars do their best work. Raul’s blog is a treasure trove of practical advice about writing, time management, reading, note taking, publishing, and so much else.
He shared what he knew generously. I sincerely hope he made plans for the preservation of that blog or that someone will take that in hand.
As a scholar from the Global South, Raul was frequently frustrated by how often his work would not be cited, despite having very clearly influenced the scholarship of others. This is a very common problem.
The one thing I encourage all scholars to do in his memory, is to read and engage with scholars from the Global South and engage with their findings and their thinking in your own work. Cite them!
Cite them because they have influenced your thinking and your research. Cite them even when you are told that it is more important to cite “more influential” people.
Teach their work, too. Make sure future generations know that important work is being done by scholars in the Global South.
You cannot do either of those things if you do not read their work. Seek it out. Read journals that are published in other countries (and other languages). Follow them on social media. Go to their talks at conferences.
Allow yourself to learn from them.
Raul was an amazing scholar and an amazing man. He is not the only one. He will be greatly missed by so many. I’m so glad he left so much behind for people to continue to know him and benefit from his knowledge for years to come.
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More of Raul’s work and life
