First Advisor
Dr. Federico Perez Fernandez
Date of Award
Spring 6-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Child, Youth, and Family Studies and University Honors
Department
Child and Family Studies
Language
English
Subjects
Mutual aid, Portland State University, Austerity, Ethnography, Youth Activism
Abstract
In a political climate shaped by surveillance, labor precarity, policing, and immigration enforcement, questions of (in)security increasingly organize everyday life. Governments justify security measures through the language of public safety, even as many people experience insecurity surrounding housing, healthcare, employment, and the future itself. Although critical security studies have examined policing, militarism, and surveillance extensively, youth are often overlooked as political actors despite their central role in social movements. This study addresses that gap by focusing on student labor organizers and activists navigating (in)security. Using collaborative ethnography, I conducted fieldwork at protests, labor organizing meetings, workshops, and demonstrations connected to Portland State University activism. Drawing from fieldnotes, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews, the project shows that participants understood (in)security as extending beyond policing or borders. Instead, I found (in)security to be linked to economic precarity, labor exploitation, housing instability, surveillance, and austerity. The study found that organizers viewed labor organizing and direct action as more effective than symbolic protest because they interrupted the ordinary flow of labor, transportation, and consumption that sustains hegemonic power. Protesters developed “bottom-up” forms of security through affinity groups, buddy systems, legal hotlines, and mutual aid networks that allowed participants to protect one another from state violence and institutional neglect. This article contributes to critical security studies and the anthropology of activism by centering youth organizers as theorists and practitioners of alternative forms of security rooted in solidarity, collective care, and democratic participation.
Recommended Citation
Hansell, Arwen, "Who Keeps Us Safe? Youth Resistance and Security Regimes at the Neoliberal University" (2026). University Honors Theses. Paper 1848.