“Existing Makes Me Political”: Latino College Students’ Everyday Political Acts and Imagined Futures

• In Event: Impact of power and politics in higher education

Abstract

This paper explores how Latino college students—many from undocumented or mixed-status families—engage in everyday political action amid exclusion and sociopolitical hostility. Based on six photovoice focus groups with ten first-generation university students, the study asks: 1) How do Latino students enact everyday politics? and 2) What factors influence the way they enact everyday politics? While familiar with traditional forms like voting, students more often engage in personal, cultural, and relational acts of resistance—through self-expression, cultural celebration, space-making, and consciousness-raising. Their participation is shaped by fear, legal vulnerability, and a deep sense of responsibility to their communities. This study broadens definitions of political participation by centering the creative, caring, and resistant practices of immigration-impacted youth.

Author

• Giovanna Itzel, University of California - Irvine