ABSTRACT

This paper explores the identity construction of multilingual and multidialectal middle school students in a semester-long youth participatory action research (YPAR) project. In particular, it moves beyond an emancipatory discourse that views youth identity development from a point of marginalization by drawing on Foucauldian notions of discourse, power, and the subject to examine the complex discursive formations that enable and constrain the continual remaking of the self. Emergent understandings show how, regardless of whether youth took up or resisted positioning as social change agents, they deftly and creatively maneuvered across networks of power/discourse to constitute themselves in ways that were useful, even if not in line with the goals of the project. Implications include the need to reframe identity work in youth participatory action research in an effort to understand the nuances and complexities that inform the constant construction and negotiation of the self in ever-shifting networks of power/discourse.

摘要

本文探讨了一个学期的青年参与行动研究（YPAR）项目中多语言和多方言初中学生的身份建构。尤其是，它超越了解放性话语，它通过利用福柯式的话语，权力和主体主题来研究从边缘化的角度来看的青年身份发展，并研究了能够促进和约束自我不断重构的复杂话语形式。新兴的理解表明，无论青年人是担任还是拒绝担任社会变革推动者，他们如何跨权力/话语网络巧妙地，创造性地操纵自己，以有益的方式构成自己，即使与项目目标不符。