The Political Incorporation of Children of Refugees: The Experience of Central Americans and Southeast Asians in the U.S.

Many refugees experienced unique traumas associated with the refugee context. This unique refugee experience might affect the politics of the children of refugees who are born and/or raised in the U.S. Understanding the impact of the traumatic refugee background on the political incorporation of children of refugees will become increasingly important as more of them come of age and participate in politics. My dissertation addresses the effects of the refugee background on the political incorporation of 1.5 and 2nd generation children of refugees living in the U.S., especially the children of Southeast Asian and Central American refugees, two very large groups of refugees that fled political turmoil and sought refuge in the U.S. during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Through quantitative analysis of large-N survey data and a number of targeted interviews with individuals from the Cambodian American and Salvadoran American communities, I find the following: although it is often hard for the refugee background to have any political effect, whenever it does have an effect, it tends to heighten the political engagement as well as the unconventional/grassroots political participation of the younger generations (the 1.5 and 2nd generation children) vis-à-vis the parental home-country and U.S. contexts