Signifying “Americanness”: Narrative Collective Identification Work in the Undocumented Youth Movement

2020 ◽  
pp. 016059762093014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily R. Cabaniss ◽  
Jeffrey A. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Narrative Identity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Subjective Feeling ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Collective Identification

This article examines the narrative identity work that undocumented youth activists used to shift the boundary of and claim membership in the social category “American.” Despite the seemingly inflexible, legalistic way American is conventionally defined in the United States (as a native-born or naturalized citizen), activists adopted a fluid interpretation that made room for them. Our theoretical contribution centers on articulating how the construction and deployment of identity codes within narrative processes can open spaces for claiming collective identification and belonging in seemingly closed collectivities. However, the use of such codes may unintentionally close access for others seeking to identify as part of the same collective. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, and our analysis integrates insights from sociological research on identity with interdisciplinary work on storytelling. We outline activists’ three main approaches to signifying Americanness, including constructing American as (1) a subjective feeling, (2) a status that can be earned, and (3) a quality that one can demonstrate through political engagement in the United States. We conclude by discussing the implications of such narrative identity work strategies for other undocumented immigrants who may face challenges presenting themselves as equally fitting “Americans.”

Intersectionality as a multipurpose collective action frame: The case of the undocumented youth movement

Ethnicities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Terriquez ◽  
Tizoc Brenes ◽  
Abdiel Lopez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Action Frame

During the early 2010s, undocumented youth activists were leading the charge to gain congressional support for the federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, which sought to provide a pathway to citizenship for eligible undocumented youth in the United States. Led primarily by Latino college students and graduates, this movement became very attentive to and inclusive of the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer members. Drawing on semi-structured interviews of Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer undocumented youth and other documentary evidence, this article demonstrates how activists can deploy intersectionality as a collective action frame that serves multiple purposes. Specifically, intersectionality can function as: (1) a diagnostic frame to help activists make sense of their own multiply-marginalized identities; (2) a motivational frame to inspire action; and (3) a prognostic frame that guides how activists build inclusive organizations and bridge social movements. We show how this frame guided the ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and other undocumented activists interpreted their own life experiences, prompted them to build inclusive organizations, and broadened the scope of their movement. We conclude by arguing that activists have the potential to adopt intersectionality as a master frame that strengthens ties among various movements mobilizing marginalized populations.

Self-Care and Solidarity: The Undocumented Immigrant Youth Movement

2018 ◽  
pp. 139-160
Author(s):  
Ala Sirriyeh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young People ◽  
Self Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
Barack Obama ◽  
Undocumented Immigrant ◽  
Dream Act ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Deferred Action

This chapter examines how a shift from the notion of compassion that is felt at a distance to a practice of compassion as suffering with one another in solidarity has been achieved by the undocumented youth movement in the United States. It begins with an overview of the origins of the undocumented youth movement, followed by a discussion of their campaign for the rights of the country's undocumented young people, their campaign for the passage of the federal Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, and their response to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) introduced by President Barack Obama. It also considers the movement's use of storytelling as testimony in their DREAM Act campaign and shows how compassion as solidarity and co-suffering can play an important role in enabling witness bearing and the building of a more inclusive and enduring resistance to suffering and social injustice.

From “coming out” to “Undocuqueer”: intersections between illegality and queerness and the US undocumented youth movement

2019 ◽  
pp. 125-143
Author(s):  
Ina Batzke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Narrative Self ◽  
Movement Strategies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
And Gender

This chapter explores the intersectionality of seeking citizenship and gender on the movement strategies of undocumented youths by tracing the evolvement of the Undocuqueer movement within the overall undocumented youth movement in the United States since 2001. By analyzing both tactics and narrative self-representations of Undocuqueer activists, it describes the specificities of UndocuQueer challenges and opportunities in order to trace how LGBTQ representations of undocumented youth legitimized themselves within the larger scope of the movement. In the course of this discussion, it is clear that the UndocuQueer tactics are not be understood as a parallel occurrence to earlier representations of undocumentedness, but instead as an intersecting one in the fight for social justice, which almost organically grew from within the overall undocumented community.

Gaining a Voice: Storytelling and Undocumented Youth Activism in Chicago*

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Swerts
Keyword(s):  
Community Building ◽  
The United States ◽  
Youth Activism ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
New Members ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Context Type ◽  
The Social

In recent years, undocumented youth have come out of the shadows to claim their rights in the United States. By sharing their stories, these youth gained a voice in the public debate. This article integrates insights from the literature on narratives and emotions to study how story-telling is employed within the undocumented youth movement in Chicago. I argue that undocumented youth strategically use storytelling for diverging purposes depending on the context, type of interaction, and audience involved. Based on ethnographic research, I show that storytelling allows them to incorporate new members, mobilize constituencies, and legitimize grievances. In each of these contexts, emotions play a key role in structuring the social transaction between storyteller and audience. Storytelling is thus a community-building, mobilizing, and claims-making practice in social movements. At a broader level, this case study demonstrates the power of storytelling as a political tool for marginalized populations.

Make Room in the Circle

2019 ◽  
pp. 89-120
Author(s):  
Wesley C. Hogan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Dream Act ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Driver's License

During the 1990s and into the 2000s, three basic barriers prevented undocumented youth from achieving major milestones of independence—acquiring a driver’s license, submitting college applications, and working legally. The circumstances repeated again and again in the accounts of undocumented youth. Elioenai Santos recalled, “Living like that is a real problem. It’s a real blow to your self-esteem, because you always feel like you are somehow less. It’s awful to always feel like you’re inferior. You see your friends driving around, traveling to other countries, while I don’t have money to go to school.” Nor could they keep their families together, as everyone felt constantly threatened by separation. The result since the early 2000s has been a growing, powerful movement among undocumented youth to redefine “who belongs” as a citizen in the United States. This chapter explores how the Immigrant Youth Justice League, Freedom University, Cristina Jimenez and United We Dream, and other undocumented and undocuqueer youth immigrant activists have fought for DACA and the DREAM Act and against deportation and the border wall. They have fundamentally challenged all US citizens to reimagine who belongs within the circle of belonging.

Students on the Rise

2015 ◽  
pp. 195-213
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bishop
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Literacy Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Immigrant Rights ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Ethical Learning

This chapter discusses the recent findings of the Drop Knowledge Project in New York City (DKPNYC). The DKPNYC is a cultural studies research project designed to excavate the discourses of urban youth activism and organizing in relation to critical literacy learning. In this chapter, the authors look at the work of the DKPNYC youth activists around issues related to immigrant rights and educational justice in out-of-school spaces. Amongst the interconnected issues surrounding this work, the youth participants in the DKPNYC all organize around issues related to the struggle of undocumented youth to access quality education in the United States. Data collected from the study is decidedly cross-cultural, with participants articulating visions of themselves and their future in relation to their cultural heritage and their inter-subjective ethical learning. Implications from the study provide insight to educators, researchers, and community-based organizations about educating immigrant youth and others on pressing issues around immigrant learning.

Non-Citizen Mexican Youth in US Higher Education: A Closer Look at the Relationship between State Tuition Policies and College Enrollment

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 864-889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bozick ◽  
Trey Miller ◽  
Matheu Kaneshiro
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Current Population Survey ◽  
Population Survey ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
The United States ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines state policies that extend or deny in-state tuition to children of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Using the Current Population Survey (1997–2010), we assess changes in college enrollment among Mexican-born non-citizens — a proxy for the undocumented population. In contrast to previous analyses, we find that policies extending in-state tuition to undocumented youth do not directly affect rates of college enrollment. However, we find that Mexican-born non-citizen youth residing in states that deny in-state tuition have a 12.1 percentage point lower probability of being enrolled in college than their peers living in states with no such policies.

Asian Americans

Sociology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Lee ◽  
Alexander Lu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Socioeconomic Outcomes ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Asian Americans currently make up about five percent of the US population and are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The history of Asians in the United States spans more than 200 years. The term “Asian American” covers over twenty nationality groups. It covers a wide variety of identities, languages, cultures, and experiences, yet this diversity has been masked with the assumption of homogeneity and the model minority image. Research within sociology on Asian Americans often focuses on dispelling the model minority myth through the empirical analysis of heterogeneity within the Asian American population, particularly in regard to educational and socioeconomic outcomes. Other sociological research examines contemporary stereotypes and discrimination against Asian Americans as well as the racial stratification of Asian Americans in relation to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. However, it is important to note that Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field, and much sociological work is informed and influenced by multi- and interdisciplinary work. Therefore, although focused primarily on sociological works, this article will include books and articles from other disciplines that have important implications for sociological research.

A Brief History of the Sociology of Parishes in the United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 25-46
Author(s):  
Tricia C. Bruce
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Sociological Literature ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Good For ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
The Church

Exploring sociological literature across almost three-quarters of a century, this chapter maps the origins and trajectory of sociologists’ exploration of the parish from the 1950s to today. From its contentious start to its largely applied orientation today, the chapter highlights several eras of parish research and argues that our current lack of sociological research on Catholic parishes can be traced to the tenuous relationship between the academy and the institutional Catholic Church. The chapter concludes by asserting that parish studies can be simultaneously good for the academy and good for the church. The future of sociological studies of the parish rest upon the willingness of both the academy and the church to accept this proposition.

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