| Description |
In this study, I examine how three Latina community leaders from the Riverbrook neighborhood of Salt Lake City enact their political capital. My three measures of political capital are perceptions of individual power, community relationships, and influence in the larger school-community setting. Mothers from the Riverbrook community are creating a space of collective leadership-where each member acts as a leader and as a political agent-to engage, influence, and change their children's schools and the larger community. I am interested in how key members of this collective use their political capital as parents, community advocates, and holders of deep knowledge to realize the future they want to see for themselves, their children, and their community. The purpose of this research is to disrupt the national and local racialized discourse misrepresenting Latina mothers as disinterested and disinvested from their children's education. I hope to find out how mothers from the Riverbrook community are bringing their funds of knowledge into school discussions, advocating for improved educational opportunities for their children, and changing the hegemonic white discourse dominating their school setting. My study methods include three in-depth interviews. These three community leaders and I examine how political capital is enacted at the community level, the collective level, and the personal level. |
