Undocumented Organizing: A Practice of Radical Imagination and Relational Learning

• In Event: Research in Progress Roundtable Session 3
  In Invited Roundtable: Social Justice Perspectives on Civic Education, School Disciplinary Experiences, and Relational Learning (Table 1)

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how undocumented organizers across the U.S. make meaning of their practices amid increased anti-immigrant policies. Grounded in Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, it examines how radical imagination informs organizing for collective liberation and conceptualizes mutual aid, collective care, and interdependence as organizing principles. Drawing from social movements as learning theory, the study explores how learning occurs relationally and individually, with identity, practices, and values co-constructed through social movements. By analyzing shifts in undocumented youth organizing and intersectionality, this research frames undocumented organizers as agents of knowledge and their practices as resistance. It aims to expand understanding of organizing as a transformative tool for collective liberation.

Author

• Alejandra Pérez, University of Washington