Fractured ethnic identity: Explaining a lack of political efficacy among Mexican Americans in California

This dissertation specifies the way in which ethnic identity among Mexican Americans is created and re-created in response to perceived political, economic, and group threat. My research stands at the intersection of race and ethnic relations and ethnic identity. I postulate that racial and ethnic identity is a construct of societal and political influences, manifested in both individuals and groups. I utilized ethnographic research to elucidate my claim that Mexican ethnic identity is fluid, situational, and above all, employed with agency as well as ascribed by society. Interviews reveal that Mexican Americans are confronted by an identity interplay between nationalism and ethnicity when voting and discussing political issues. As evidenced by the voting results of California's Proposition 187, Proposition 209, and Proposition 227, the political opinions of Mexican Americans and Mexicans are directly influenced by their choice of identity expression. Tracing voting patterns and opinions of the study's participants offers a comprehensive understanding of the creation and re-creation of Mexican American identity and the political efficacy derived from ethnic identification. Moreover, the analyses reveal the possibility of ethnic identity choices evolving over time. The participants' decision to choose an ethnic identity is influenced by a multitude of separate political and societal pressures. Prevalent ethnic identity theories do not explicate the respondents' manipulation of ethnic identity. The paucity of theoretical explanations highlights the need to set Latinos apart as a research group, disjoined from Afro-Americans, European Americans, or Asian Americans. The dissertation offers strong empirical and theoretical contributions to the fields of sociology and Latino studies.