"My Body Felt Uneasy": Theory in the Flesh and (Un)Documented Midwest Latinx Youth Brown Body

• In Event: Mujerista Politics at the Borderlands: Embodied Epistemologies and Praxis

Abstract

I use theory in the flesh as a framework to explore (un)documented Latinx youth embodied subjectivist and contradictions related to their participation in social activism towards politics of immigration and education (Cruz, 2015; Moraga & Anzaldúa, 1981; Moraga, 2015). Participating in social activism changes the consciousness of those who participate in them (Berta-Avila, Revilla, and Figueroa, 2011; Ginwright and Cammarota, 2002). This perspective romanticizes the effect of participating in social activism. I suggest we theorize social activism as both a consciousness-raising event and a trauma-inducing event. This encourages social movement researchers to name and examine the contradictions of participating in social activism. One approach is to examine how the "whole body" is affected by participating in social activism.

Author

• Carlos R. Casanova, Arizona State University