Identity Production in Figured Worlds: How some Mexican Americans become Chicana/o Activist Educators

Using Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain’s (1998) theory of identity and their concept of figured worlds, this article provides an overview of how twenty-four Mexican Americans came to produce Chicana/o Activist Educator identities. The desire to raise consciousness (teach for social justice pero con ganas) and “give back to the their] community” became a very important part of this identity. Using an ethnographic interview as well as a life history interview methodology, this article specifically focuses on the participants’ conceptual and procedural identity production in local Chicana/o activist figured worlds (usually in colleges and universities). In these local figured worlds, the participants produced a more complex process of identity production that was both conceptual and procedural. The article concludes with broad implications for urban teacher education. Luis Urrieta, Jr. is assistant professor of cultural studies and education and Fellow in the Lee Hage Jamail Regents Chair in Education at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in identity, agency, and social movements in education with a focus on Chicana/o and Indígena (P’urhépecha) education, citizenship and social studies education. 1 University Station D5700, Austin, TX 78712, USA.