Over a decade ago, the Dreamer movement began, led by young undocumented Latinx youth. These activists became known as \"Dreamers\" who continue to advocate for a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. Through media, speeches, and artwork, Dreamers use the cultural narrative of the \"American Dream\" to create the boundaries of their American identity. Traditionally, American Identity is studied through 4 schools of thought: ethno-culturalism, liberalism, civic republicanism, and incorporationism. I offer an analysis of two concepts of American identity, meritocracy, and hyperdocumentation, that are mostly missing from the American identity literature. Additionally, I propose social citizenship as a theory for measuring how Dreamers ascribe to the American identity both explicitly and implicitly. This thesis uses data from the 2016 Blair Center poll and original data from semi-structured interviews conducted in the Northwest Arkansas Region, offering a nuanced analysis of the boundaries of Americanism for Dreamers today.
","abstract_html":"<p>Over a decade ago, the Dreamer movement began, led by young undocumented Latinx youth. These activists became known as "Dreamers" who continue to advocate for a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. Through media, speeches, and artwork, Dreamers use the cultural narrative of the "American Dream" to create the boundaries of their American identity. Traditionally, American Identity is studied through 4 schools of thought: ethno-culturalism, liberalism, civic republicanism, and incorporationism. I offer an analysis of two concepts of American identity, meritocracy, and hyperdocumentation, that are mostly missing from the American identity literature. Additionally, I propose social citizenship as a theory for measuring how Dreamers ascribe to the American identity both explicitly and implicitly. This thesis uses data from the 2016 Blair Center poll and original data from semi-structured interviews conducted in the Northwest Arkansas Region, offering a nuanced analysis of the boundaries of Americanism for Dreamers today. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Campos, Alejandra"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Political Science (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Maxwell, Angie","Saeidi, Shirin"],"advisors":["Medina Vidal, Xavier"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:44Z","subjects":["American dream","American identity","Dreamers","Immigration","Social Citizenship","Social research","American Politics","Latin American Studies","Politics and Social Change"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3692","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Maxwell, Angie","Saeidi, Shirin"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Medina Vidal, Xavier"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Campos, Alejandra"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2020"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Political Science (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American dream","American identity","Dreamers","Immigration","Social Citizenship","Social research","American Politics","Latin American Studies","Politics and Social Change"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3692"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Over a decade ago, the Dreamer movement began, led by young undocumented Latinx youth. These activists became known as \"Dreamers\" who continue to advocate for a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. Through media, speeches, and artwork, Dreamers use the cultural narrative of the \"American Dream\" to create the boundaries of their American identity. Traditionally, American Identity is studied through 4 schools of thought: ethno-culturalism, liberalism, civic republicanism, and incorporationism. I offer an analysis of two concepts of American identity, meritocracy, and hyperdocumentation, that are mostly missing from the American identity literature. Additionally, I propose social citizenship as a theory for measuring how Dreamers ascribe to the American identity both explicitly and implicitly. This thesis uses data from the 2016 Blair Center poll and original data from semi-structured interviews conducted in the Northwest Arkansas Region, offering a nuanced analysis of the boundaries of Americanism for Dreamers today.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Ser Americano: The Cost of Being American"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Maxwell, Angie","Saeidi, Shirin"],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Medina Vidal, Xavier"],"dc:creator":["Campos, Alejandra"],"dc:date":["2020"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Over a decade ago, the Dreamer movement began, led by young undocumented Latinx youth. These activists became known as \"Dreamers\" who continue to advocate for a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants. Through media, speeches, and artwork, Dreamers use the cultural narrative of the \"American Dream\" to create the boundaries of their American identity. Traditionally, American Identity is studied through 4 schools of thought: ethno-culturalism, liberalism, civic republicanism, and incorporationism. I offer an analysis of two concepts of American identity, meritocracy, and hyperdocumentation, that are mostly missing from the American identity literature. Additionally, I propose social citizenship as a theory for measuring how Dreamers ascribe to the American identity both explicitly and implicitly. This thesis uses data from the 2016 Blair Center poll and original data from semi-structured interviews conducted in the Northwest Arkansas Region, offering a nuanced analysis of the boundaries of Americanism for Dreamers today.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3692"],"dc:subject":["American dream","American identity","Dreamers","Immigration","Social Citizenship","Social research","American Politics","Latin American Studies","Politics and Social Change"],"dc:title":["Ser Americano: The Cost of Being American"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Political Science (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:44Z"}