They and we: Identity, gender, and politics among Latino youth in Los Angeles

Objective. To explore how Latinos think about their identity, politics, voting, and community activity in order to gain some insight into the attitudes underlying Latino participation patterns. Methods. Analysis of fifty in-depth interviews with Latino high school seniors from neighboring schools. The schools differ in terms of their socioeconomic and generational makeup. Results. (1) All the respondents have a strong ethnic identity but vary in their degree of identification with the immigrant sectors of their community; (2) most, especially the females, are not interested in formal politics; (3) the respondents felt voting was important but did not feel confident about their ability to participate effectively; (4) the more socioeconomically disadvantaged felt more positive about the community's ability to use nonelectoral activities to solve problems. Conclusions. In this sample, the respondents' feelings of efficacy in the electoral and nonelectoral arenas vary more by class and generation than by gender, and operate in the opposite direction of what the SES or segmented assimilation models would lead us to expect. While the Latinas in this sample do not see themselves as pare of formal politics, their high levels of community activity could provide the basis for their future mobilization into the electoral arena.