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Languaging for Solidarity: Relational Possibilities for Youth in the Dominican Republic (Poster 52)
Fri, April 14, 11:40am to 1:10pm CDT (11:40am to 1:10pm CDT), Hyatt Regency Chicago, Floor: East Tower - Exhibit Level, Riverside West Exhibition HallAbstract
Dominant discourses typically frame Haitian-Dominican relations through the lens of oppositional contradiction (Martinez, 2003) rather than relationality and entanglement (Mayes & Jayaram, 2018). Yet convivencia diaria (Rosa, 2019) among Dominican and Haitian youth extends much further. Along the Dominican Republic’s north coast, the site of this research study, youth futures across social difference are intricately linked within and shaped by the imperial formations of tourist economies. Through this poster presentation, I examine the potential to support relational possibilities among differentially positioned youth living in this context. With a focus on language and literacy practices, I consider: What discursive strategies constitute an emerging language of solidarity? What literacy practices support this languaging? What are the implications for social action? Examples of discursive strategies come from the co-construction of meaning in social interaction (1) between youth participants and the researcher during individual interviews and (2) among youth, local activists, educators, and the researcher during a series of workshops on language and social justice. Examples of literacy practices are drawn from multimodal representations in (1) teaching materials designed to support critical consciousness, (2) student artifacts developed after workshop sessions, and (3) youth action research projects. Findings illustrate that youth use a range of discursive strategies—such as rhetorical questions, storytelling, and voicing—to generate social critique and take stances regarding inequities. These strategies are also modeled by local activists and educators as they engage youth in literacy practices that reveal the structural dynamics of power that shape and perpetuate these inequities.