Uncivil Youth

"Providing a model of activist ethnographic research, Soo Ah Kwon constructively engages with the activism of the youth of color whom she studies without oversimplifying the contradictory circumstances within which they work. Kwon respects their intellectual analyses and political contributions. At the same time, she demonstrates that youth organizing is often shaped by the very discourses that it seeks to resist. Uncivil Youth is a compelling examination of the intersections of youth organizing, governmentality, and the 'nonprofit industrial complex.'"—Andrea Smith, author of Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gendered Politics of Unlikely Alliances

"This is a wonderful ethnographic study of Asian and Pacific Islander youth activism in Oakland and the youth organizing movement that has been likened to a 'new civil rights movement.' Soo Ah Kwon astutely uncovers what makes possible the 'power of the youth' at a moment when grassroots organizing has been reshaped by nonprofit organizations and neoliberal governance. The book interrogates how the category of 'youth of color' has been absorbed into depoliticized programs for self-help, as well as how young activists challenge the state's discourse of democratic citizenship and the criminalization of immigrant and refugee youth. This is a must-read for scholars, students, youth workers, activists, and general audiences alike."—Sunaina Marr Maira, author of Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire after 9/11

“In this definitive text examining youth engagement among Asian American youth, Kwon (Univ. of Illinois) takes readers on an ethnographic journey to explore afterschool initiatives and other community-based projects, and shows how these initiatives serve as protective factors against juvenile delinquency. . . . Highly recommended.”

“This book would be very well placed on advanced undergraduate or Masters’ programmes’ reading lists—as much for the substantive content as for Kwon’s approach, style and appreciative analysis. The latter will doubtless generate excellent student discussions. For the rest of us, and particularly those interested in subjectification processes, the concept of citizenship or youth justice, this is definitely one to read.”

“Kwon’s investigation is an elegantly reasoned, well supported, and exceedingly timely intervention into contemporary scholarship on activism and youth. Her smart historicization of the state’s interest in youth and her interdisciplinary exploration of systems of power and youth organizing make this book an important critique of and addition to bodies of scholarship invested in examining activism, neoliberalism, citizenship, race, and social justice.”

“As an academic, theoretical work, Kwon’s book is excellent. It is extremely well-grounded in literature from a variety of social sciences and raises provocative questions that we, as a society, should be asking ourselves. How do we view youth of color? How do we define at-risk youth, and why? What are the ethics around current immigration law, and how does this impact the next generation? And, ultimately, are we truly preparing all youth to become good citizens in a democracy or are we leading them into activities that will leave them prematurely jaded about the process?”