DREAMers and the Choreography of Protest

Reviews / Votes

This story of the undocumented young people who radicalized the movement for immigrant rights is fast-paced, exciting, and often poignant. It also offers a profound rethinking of how movements radicalize. Rather than either emotional or strategic, activists here radicalized when their anger at mainstream groups pushed them to innovate strategically. Fed up with the idealized image of the 'DREAMer', some activists both rejected that image and self-consciously exploited it, using the political protection it offered them to engage in daring acts of civil disobedience. With sensitivity and insight, Michael Young captures the originality of the strategy-and its costs for activists. A fascinating read. * Francesca Polletta, Chancellor's Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine * Beautifully written and warmly human in its relationship to the DREAMers, Michael Young's book is also an important intellectual contribution. It clarifies the DREAM Act and the activism that followed and gives the best account available of this moving human drama and the challenges of organizing. Crucially, it shows that what counts as a movement cannot be settled merely by academic definition but is shaped by protagonists who both create collective action and struggle over how it is represented. * Craig Calhoun, co-author of Degenerations of Democracy *