Undocumented and unafraid: Voices of dream activists
Abstract
In this dissertation, I followed the footsteps of Dutta (2009) and Kim (2008) to re-conceptualize public relations as a field that listens and has room for the voices of the marginalized. Employing the culture-centered approach to communication (Dutta, 2008), I conducted 17 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and nearly two years of ethnographic research with members of the undocumented student movement. As a result of this ethnographic work, I noted alternative meanings of activism and resistance emerging from personal immigration stories. These alternative meanings, conceptualizing activism and resistance as a way of life and as a way of survival, open up discursive spaces for discussions of how to practice public relations from a non-managerial position by illustrating how marginalized voices reach and resist powerful organizations such as the U.S. government through narratives. By focusing on the intersection of culture, structure, and agency, this research found that the undocumented student movement employs community-centered communicative practices such as storytelling and education to communicate with their publics. Furthermore, further exploration into allies within the movement suggested that expansion is needed in the understanding of culture and cultural participants within the culture-centered framework.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Dutta, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Communication
Off-Campus Purdue Users:
To access this dissertation, please log in to our
proxy server.