Unsettled identities and unsettling action: Navigating social identity within an Indigenous social movement in Guåhan
Meno, Camarin G.
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124569
Description
Title
Unsettled identities and unsettling action: Navigating social identity within an Indigenous social movement in Guåhan
Author(s)
Meno, Camarin G.
Issue Date
2024-04-24
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Allen, Nicole E.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Todd, Nathan
Committee Member(s)
Aber, Mark S.
Neville, Helen A.
Na'puti, Tiara R.
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Indigenous
social identity
activism
decolonization
Abstract
Despite centuries of colonization, Indigenous peoples are alive and thriving throughout the world today. Although Indigenous peoples have engaged in centuries of mobilizations and resistance efforts to protect their cultures and oppose colonial powers, relatively little is known about Indigenous social movements and the psychological factors that influence individuals to take part in such movements. Contemporary understandings of the psychology of social movements point to the centrality of identity motivations in engagement, alongside felt injustice and sense of efficacy and morality (Agostini & van Zomeren, 2021). However, little is known about how these motives relate to social movement engagement in an Indigenous setting, where one’s differential access to power and privilege as either an Indigenous person or a settler can impact one’s involvement. Further, the unique burdens associated with colonial or place-based trauma suggest potentially unique and salient identities for an Indigenous social movement. Employing critical Indigenous and qualitative methods grounded in CHamoru values of fa’taotao and inagofli’e (respect and care), the current study sought to identify features of social identity that facilitate or pose challenges to engagement within an Indigenous social movement in the Pacific island of Guåhan. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 individuals affiliated with the Indigenous social movement organization, Independent Guåhan, study findings indicated six prominent social identities impacting social movement engagement, including: a) Indigenous CHamoru identity, b) Indigenous CHamoru diaspora identity, c) settler identity, d) place identity, e) politicized identity, and f) activist identity. Results highlight the complex ways that participants understood themselves and navigated their social identities within the movement, including whether one proudly claimed an identity label or resisted it in some way. Implications of these findings point to new streams of research to further understand Indigenous social movements and the unique identities relevant to such movements, as well as possibilities for Indigenous social movements, such as Independent Guåhan, to effectively attend to and encourage social movement supporters across diverse social identities.
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