Abstract:
The ethnic and representational politics of the USA are being challenged and transformed by the size of the Latino population. But Latino identities are varied and reflect a range of historical and contemporary influences. The focus of this pilot study are a group of American-raised university students in California and how they see themselves in terms of self-claimed labels and identities – and the influences and implications of these identities. Is the country origin of immigrant parents an ongoing determinant of self and group identity? Or are new pan-ethnic identities more important? What has been transmitted and maintained by these American-raised in terms of, for example, Spanish language or morality? This report explores these and other issues as new generations of Latinos explore and negotiate identity in an American setting.