Abstracts Political Science

Voices from the Valley of Vulnerability

by Randy Villegas

How do different localized political contexts shape the political participation, strategies, and civic engagement of youth from mixed-status families? This dissertation investigates the relationship between the political participation of youth from mixed-status families and their political contexts through a comparative case study design. More specifically, it examines the experience of youth in two counties within California’s high poverty Central Valley, Kern and Fresno. In this comparative case study design, I utilized ethnographic methods, immersing myself in the field, conducting semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observations with youth from mixed-status families in the Central Valley region. The political opportunity structures within Kern and Fresno counties offered both constraints and opportunities for youth from mixed-status families to organize and make claims. On the one hand, an “anti-political” climate suppressed traditional socializing agents; on the other, community-based organizations and youth organizing groups could bridge this gap to participation if youth felt as though they were empowered to be agents of change. Even so, youth within both contexts demonstrated levels of engagement that seemed to be increased as a result of their mixed status. Finding motivation through their lived experiences and identities, youth from mixed-status families found a mobilizing identity growing up in Latinx immigrant families. In the chapters and case studies that follow, I argue that youth from mixed-status families are more engaged than one might expect. Second, while there is a limited role of parents and schools in motivating engagement, Community based organizations and youth organizing groups have acted as a bridge to galvanize participation in this region. Finally, I contend that local political contexts can deeply shape political engagement as well as the constraints and opportunities that youth from mixed-status families must navigate.