%0 Journal Article %A Gonzales, Alfonso %T Pessimism of the mind and optimism of the spirit: Latino youth activism, democracy and the politics of immigration reform after 2012 %D 2013 %@ 1889-5611 %U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/19992 %X This article interrogates the normative assumption, underlining most political science research that greater Latino electoral participation alone will bring about empowerment and social justice for Latino communities under the conditions of neoliberalism and authoritarian state practices. In contrast to this assumption, the article illustrates how after the 2012 presidential election the political energies of Latino communities were further channeled away from grassroots militant mobilizations and organizations into support for liberal Democrats and their proposed Senate immigration reform bill, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S.744). Although there are some positive aspects of this bill that immigration reformers have fought to be included especially for Dreamers and agricultural workers, the author argues that this bill, and most bills dubbed as “comprehensive immigration reform” (CIR) would result in only temporary relief from deportation for a large sector of the 11 million undocumented that would qualify. Moreover, most CIR bills would come at the expense of those that do not qualify and much to the detriment of future flows of undocumented migrants all while ignoring the structural causes of migration that are rooted in asymmetric geopolitical relations of domination and the country’s deep rooted racial hierarchies. Though critical of so-called Latino political power, the article ends with a discussion on how Latino youth activists and their allies are advancing a militant grassroots politics with the potential to forge a more favorable relations of force for the next round of legislative battles, in the short run, and to challenge the authoritarian nature of the post-9/11 migration control regime and global capitalism in the long run. %K Antonio Gramsci %K Hegemony %K Neo-liberalism %K Democracy %K Latinos %K Immigrant rights %K Immigration reform %K Authoritarian statism %K Nicos Poulantzas %K Hegemonía %K Neo-liberalismo %K Democracia %K Derechos de los inmigrantes %K Reforma de la inmigración %K Estatismo autoritario %K Arte %K Art %K Historia %K History %K Literatura %K Literature %K Sociología %K Sociology %~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala