NYU Press Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas

Rebel Girls explores how teenage girls construct activist identities, rejecting and redefining girlhood and claiming political authority for youth in the process. Review From interviews with seventy-six teenage girls in five locations and from observations of their political strategies, Taft builds an in-depth picture of girl activism in different socio-cultural and political environments, comparing the more politicized and radical activism in Latin America to that practiced in North America.--Hilary Crew "VOYA Library Magazine" In this riveting book, Taft takes us on a journey from San Francisco to Mexico City, Caracas, Vancouver, and Buenos Aires to learn about girls struggles for social justice in a variety of social movements.--Verta Taylor, co-author of Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret In Rebel Girls, Jessica K. Taft introduces readers to a cadre of girl activists who remain invisible to scholars of both girlhood and social movements. . . Taft unveils the intricate processes through which girl activists contruct collective identities and political strategies within contexts that take neither girl nor youth political activism seriously.--Heather Hensman Kettrey "Mobilization" Jessica K. Taft describes how teenage girls are active participants and leaders in a variety of social movements, from anti-war walkouts to anarchist youth newspapers, rallies against educational privitization, and workshops on fair trade.-- "Z Magazine" Rebel Girls serves the important purpose of bringing to light and describing a marginalized aspect of activist culture.--Emily Abrahams "Shameless" Taft adds a valuable contribution to youth, girlhood, and activist studies.--R.C. Raby "Choice" Taft demonstrates...capacity for nuance.--Courtney E. Martin "Women's Review of Books" This is not only a powerful sociological account of the making of a counter-culture girl identitythat of the socially active, community-minded girl; it is also a treasure trove of data.--Maya Bernstein "Lilith Magazine" About the Author Jessica K. Taft is Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz.