UC Santa Cruz

This dissertation is an ethnography of Latina/o youth’s cultural citizenship. The goal of this research is to center the voices and lived experiences of Latina/o youth in the conceptualizing and theorizing of citizenship and rights, specifically cultural citizenship. Drawing on data from a school-based youth participatory action research (YPAR) program, with fourth and fifth grade Latina/o youth, this ethnographic case study addresses two interrelated questions. First, how do Latina/o youth define the terms citizen and citizenship? Second, how do Latina/o youth reflect on and enact their cultural citizenship? Data for this research include ethnographic fieldnotes, and semi-structured one on one interviews with youth conducted at two separate time points. The results highlight the voices and experiences of thirteen Latina/o youth, from first and second-generation im/migrant families from Latin America. Specifically, Latina/o youth’s cultural citizenship in relation to four processes: membership via positionality and social identities; sense of belonging through meaningful participation and intergenerational friendships; claiming space in the process of de-ideologizing and decolonizing settings; and demanding rights beyond individual self-determination. This research sets the foundation for an intersectional critical approach toward the study of Latina/o youth’s political subjectivities.