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5 - Immigrant Organizing and Activism

from Part I - Organizing and Activism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2024

By
Kevin Escudero
Edited by
Brian D. Christens
Brian D. Christens
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

This chapter examines the power and empowerment processes taking place in immigrant organizing and activism, primarily in the US. Immigrant youth activism around the Federal DREAM Act provides a case example. The youth whose activism and organizing seek the passage of this act are often referred to as “the DREAMers.” The discussion of the DREAMers is followed by a synthesis of interdisciplinary literature on immigrant community power and psychological empowerment processes. The chapter concludes with recommendations for policymakers, politicians, and social science researchers. Policymakers need a better understanding of the effects of their decisions on the large, heterogeneous group of noncitizen immigrants whose lives are interconnected with those of US citizens (e.g., undocumented parents of citizen children). Social scientists should pay attention to the similarities and differences between immigrant and refugee organizing and activism and should engage in collaborations with immigrant community leaders on mutually beneficial research.

Keywords

activismcitizenshipcolonialismethnicityimmigrationorganizingsocial movementsyouth
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Empowerment , pp. 139 - 161
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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