Syracuse University SURFACE Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses School of Education 5-2013 Whose Streets? Our Streets!: Identity, Institutions, and Privilege in Student Activism Christina Limpert Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/cfe_etd Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Limpert, Christina, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!: Identity, Institutions, and Privilege in Student Activism" (2013). Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses. 55. https://surface.syr.edu/cfe_etd/55 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cultural Foundations of Education - Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT This dissertation is a qualitative ethnography of college student activism that examines student activist identity, and the role of social structures and privilege in activism. The study uses data from two years of in-depth fieldwork including over 18 months of participant observation and interviews with 13 key respondents. I took on this research project to better understand how students come to think of themselves as activists, how they speak about and experience activism, how activism—as a cultural text—tells a story about power and privilege, and to explore the role of education in the culture of activism. In this dissertation I argue that student activism is a practice of democratic citizenship that is complicated by the contradictions and complexities of students’ uninterrogated privileges. Mobilizing as a collective, students challenge normative notions of youth and youth subcultures through extracurricular activities and practices that include public and self-education. Activist work includes navigating contradictions granted by identity privilege and serves as a contested space where social inequities and relations of power and privilege are rejected, interrogated, and reinforced. Student activism, as a subculture and a lifestyle, becomes informal schooling for privileged youth offering lessons which bridge the gap between the disconnected realities of school, individual experience, and group work in the “real world.” In this way, activist work and pedagogy provides students with opportunities to engage with the discomfort of privilege. Even as students are confronted with contradictions of their own privileged identities, their political agenda as anti-racist, anti-oppression allies continually push them to better understand their role as privileged actors in a world of injustice. WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!: IDENTITY, INSTITUTIONS, AND PRIVILEGE IN STUDENT ACTIVISM by Christina M. Limpert B.S. Towson University, 1985 M.S. Syracuse University, 1995 C.A.S. Syracuse University, 2001 C.A.S. Syracuse University, 2004 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Foundations of Education in the Graduate School of Syracuse University May 2013 Copyright © Christina M. Limpert, Ph.D., 2013 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements In grade school, I struggled to read, slanted my cursive the wrong way, and never quite mastered the rhythm of square dance. Yet here I am. I find research, scholarship, and learning exhilarating. Although writing felt very lonely at times, throughout this pursuit a community of extraordinary individuals--without whom this work would not have come full circle—was always within reach. Thank you… To each and every one of the student activists who let me tag along, ask questions, scribble notes, take pictures, and be present in your world. Your enthusiasm and dedication give me hope for the future. Steve Taylor, Thank you for saying yes. Your steady guidance, and your gracious, practical, and intellectual approach to teaching, writing, and research inspire me. Without you, I would have left the fruits of my labor to spoil. I am ever so grateful. Barbara Applebaum and Marj DeVault, Thank you for your thoughtful and comprehensive review of my work and for ushering me, and this project, to the table. Your fierce advocacy for women paved the way for this work to come to life…what an honor. Derek X. Seward and Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Your questions pushed me to think more deeply about this project and certainly strengthened it. Your time and regard meant a great deal. To the many exemplary educators, colleagues, and friends who supported and encouraged me along the way; you gave me a place to explore and shine—what an undeniable gift: Sari Knopp Biklen, Gerald Grant, Lesley Bogad, Ann Clarke, Mary Giehl, Tim Glander, David McGough, Janet Park, Patrick Lawler, George Konder, Fred Montas, and Patricia Schramm. Book sistahs, I cannot imagine life without you. Our suppers reinforce the need in life for trusted confidants, good food, literature, love, laughter, and sisterhood. You are powerful and brilliant. My academic sisterhood: Benette Whitmore McGrath, Glenda Gross, Susan Overton, and Margot Clark. You circled the wagons, provided wise counsel, coffee (and more coffee), keen insight, and sturdy intellectual scaffolding. When I felt unmoored you kept me tethered to reality and facilitated safe passage to the other side. We. Did. It. Huei Hsuan Lin, Thank you for your unwavering support, patience, generosity, sense of humor, and food sharing. You are a sharp and animated thinker and writer, and a courageous, dedicated teacher. Your gift for service taught me to look in my own back yard before tackling the world. Your Ph.Divas made it! Alexandre, You are the love of my life, my center, and my home. You convinced me to hold steady. Thank you for believing in me, and for explaining postmodernism over, and over, and over again. Let’s continue to take road less traveled. iv Quinn, You shine brighter than the full moon over Sandy Pond. You bring color to this too often black and white world. From day one, you brought me joy and pushed me to be my best self. I am so very proud of you. This project is dedicated to my mom, Patricia Ann Quinn Limpert, RN, NP. The daughter of a milkman and IUOE (International Union of Operating Engineers) secretary, my mom was the first in her family to go on to higher education. From you, mom, I learned how to persevere in the face of adversity. You have a wonderful sense of humor (and you get my sense of humor). You lead by example…volunteering still in your 80s. You’re always willing to try something new without reinventing your core self. Thanks for demonstrating the worth of putting one foot in front of the other and for recognizing that stuffing fake kitty hair up my nose was not a good thing. Go SU! v TABLE of CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………….…… iv Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………………….…………1 Context 2 Why Study Subordinate or Subcultural Youth? 4 Theorizing Student Activism 9 The Influence of Cultural Studies 10 Studying Culture and Identity 12 Student Activism in History 19 The Setting and Participants 23 Outline of the Chapters 25 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………..… 27 Youth Culture 29 Defining Youth Resistance 31 Social Structures and Identity 35 Distinguishing Youth Formations 36 Status and Privilege 37 Group Life 40 Social Movements 43 The Environmental Movement 45 Conclusion: (Re)imagining Activist Youth 47 Chapter 3: METHODS & METHODOLOGY…………………………..… 50 Introduction 50 Entering the field 51 The Student Organization 52 The Participants 53 Qualitative Research 61 Methods and Data Collection 64 Context 67 Methodology: Framing Research and Writing 68 My Analytic Journey 70 Considerations and Conversations in Participant Observation 73 Relationships and Roles in Participant Observation 74 Proximity and Distance: Ethics and Boundaries in Fieldwork 77 Strangeness and Intimacy 79 Chance Encounters 84 Practices and Portrayals: Writing Experience 87 Struggles and Limitations of the Study 89 Struggles 89 Limitations of the Study 89 vi Chapter 4: “THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE:” MAKING SENSE OF STUDENT ACTIVIST IDENTITY………………………… 91 Part One: The Meaning of Activism Change Work 91 A Politicized Identity 95 Extracurricular Education 99 Stewardship 104 Part Two: Making Sense of Activism 107 Identity Markers 108 Mindset v. Action 117 Code Switching 119 Conclusion 122 Chapter 5: GETTING SCHOOLED: THE EDUCATION OF STUDENT ACTIVISTS……………………………………………………… 125 Institutional Lessons 125 Challenging Power 126 Challenging Curricular Authority 130 Allies 131 Access and Equity 132 Social Hierarchies, Belonging, and School 134 Black Sheep: Family and Contested Identity 140 Managing Bureaucracy: Opportunity and Agency 142 Navigating Road Blocks 142 Group Membership 145 Conclusion 149 Chapter 6: IDENTITY PRIVILEGE:HOW ACTIVITIES AND PRACTICES COMPLICATE PRIVILEGE…………………………………… 151 Activist Self Education 152 Activism and Education in a “Laboratory of Privilege” 153 Identity Guilt 156 Benevolent Activism 158 Gendered Work 162 Going Rogue 167 Individualism and Group Practice 171 Attitudes, Action, and Group Work: The Go-Around 173 Conclusion 181 Chapter 7: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PRATICE……………………………..…… 182 Activism as Informal Education 182 Reframing Representations of Youth Who Resist 183 Seeking Legitimacy: the Schooling Lives of Student Activists 185 vii Experiencing Privilege 186 Implications for Educational Practice and Further Study 186 Peer to peer: Extracurricular work, citizenship, and education 189 References:………………………………………………………………………