The bright lights: The development of oppositional consciousness among DACAmented Latino youth

Abstract

This study asks the question, “How do diverse social spaces support or constrain the development of oppositional consciousness among DACAmented Latina/o youth?” Our analysis is based on 40 in-depth interviews with Latina/o youth and young adults living in Colorado who received a two-year reprieve from deportation and work authorization through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program enacted in 2012. The findings indicate the development of three points along a continuum of oppositional consciousness, which we term latent, emergent, and manifest. The implications of this study reveal how social spaces inside and outside of schools in a non-traditional destination can support or constrain the oppositional consciousness of liminally legal DACA recipients.