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Title
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Gaining a voice : storytelling and undocumented youth activism in Chicago
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Author
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Abstract
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| 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 storytelling 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. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Mobilization. - San Diego, Calif., 1996, currens
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Publication
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San Diego, Calif.
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2015
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ISSN
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1086-671X
[print]
1938-1514
[online]
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Volume/pages
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20
:3
(2015)
, p. 345-360
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ISI
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000365418000004
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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