Description

The Politics of Race and Education: Second-Generation Laotian Women Campaign for Improved Educational Services

The author discusses community activism among teenage second-generation Laotian women involved in a leadership development and community organizing program established by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network in northern California’s Contra Costa County. Using qualitative data, the author examines the young women’s involvement in a campaign to improve academic counseling services in their high school. The author also analyzes the strategies and practices that arise from the young women’s struggle for social justice to document the generation of new social capital that encourages community involvement in solving the social problems faced by young Laotians and other youth of color.

Laotian women, leadership development, community organizing, second-generation Laotians, youth of color, women, community activism, social capital, education, citizenship

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 35, No. 2 (2008-09): 100-118