And of course, we want to acknowledge the ongoing support of Eric Zinner (the best editor a writer can work with), Alicia Nadkarni, and the others at New York University Press, and we wish to thank Julian Sefton-Green and the editorial board of the Connected Learning Book Series.
Chapter Specific
Chapter 1: The ideas contained within this chapter and the conclusion evolved over several years in response to rigorous and generous feedback received from a range of different audiences, including those provided by events hosted by the Alliance for Peacebuilding; American Academy of Religion; Aspen Ideas Festival; Babes-Bolyai University; Bocconi University; Central European University; Charles University; Concordia University; the Digital Media and Learning Conference; Emory University; European Institute of Design; Georgia State University; International Communications Association Latin American Conference at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; Library Foundation of Los Angeles; London School of Economics; Loyola Marymount University MIT; Pomona College; Shoah Foundation; Stanford University; University of California, Davis; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Los Angeles; University of South Florida Humanities Institute; and University of Sunderland. The ideas were also shaped in conversation with several crops of students who took Henry Jenkins’s classes on Civic Media and Participatory Politics.
Chapter 2: We thank everyone at Invisible Children who made our research there possible. This was a case study that spanned many years and changes within the organization and we are deeply indebted to IC staff and supporters who continued to make us feel welcome through it all. Specifically, we thank Jason Russell, Jedidiah Jenkins, Ben Keesey, and Zach Burrows for the ongoing conversations about IC’s directions and plans. We are also so grateful to Talitha Baker, Laura Weldy, Lauren Henke, Hailey Mitsui-Davis, Cameron Woodward, Ananda Robie, Andrea Ramsay, Jessica Morris, and Maggie Leahy for helping us attend specific events, coordinate interviews, and just generally for their support with the details of our research. We are grateful to Beth Karlin, who became an ongoing conversation partner as this research developed. Finally, we thank Jon Chu and Harry Shum for providing an insider-outsider perspective on IC through their involvement with the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. As always, our biggest thank you goes out to the many young IC supporters who took the time to speak with us over the years.
Chapter 3: The Harry Potter Alliance has, in many ways, inspired our work and prompted us to think about how popular culture and fan enthusiasms inspire youth civic engagement. Throughout this project, we continued to look to this group for both insights and inspiration. We are deeply indebted to Andrew Slack for openly sharing his vision with us. Our deepest thanks goes also to Jackson Bird, who was always willing to read drafts, discuss aspects of the research, and provide us with valuable insights, and to Paul DeGeorge and Matt Maggiacomo, who supported this research as executive directors of the HPA. Thank you to the local HPA chapters, on both the West and East Coast, who invited us to their events—the Los Angeles Auror Brigade, the HPA of Pasadena, and the New York Dumbledore Army (NYDA). Thank you also to Melissa Anelli for her help with attending LeakyCon. On the Nerdfighter front, we are hugely indebted to Hank and John Green for supporting this research, and particularly thank John for giving his time in interview. A huge thank you to Valerie Barr for providing assistance and feedback on drafts, as well as to all members of Catitude. Thank you to the local CalNerdCon Nerdfighters for inviting us to your events. And thank you to Lori Krake Earl—your daughter has been an inspiration for so many, and you have in many ways inspired our research on this unique group. Our biggest gratitude goes to all Nerdfighters, HPA members, and Imagine Better supporters, who have talked to us in interviews, during quidditch games, while waiting in line in fan conventions, or while strolling through the Occupy Los Angeles encampments—we hope to have captured your experiences.
Chapter 4: Our research on American Muslim youth would not have been possible without the support of the Muslim Youth Group at the Islamic Center of Southern California and the Muslim Public Affairs Council. At a time when issues of privacy and unwanted surveillance continue to weigh heavily on our minds, we are particularly grateful to the leadership at these organizations who opened their doors to us as researchers. In particular, we thank Soha Yassine, Mariam Mohiuddin Edina Lekovic, Yasmin Hussein, Susu Attar, Aman Ali, Bassam Tariq, Akifa Khan, and members of the Elev8 collective for their support and insights. We also owe a huge thank you to the MPAC Young Leaders Participants and MYG youth who participated in the research. And finally, this case study would not have happened without the initial advice from Brie Loskota and Sumaya Abubaker at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture.
Chapter 5: Our research on immigrants’ rights activism would not have been possible without the support of DREAM Team Los Angeles, DREAM Team Orange County, IDEAS at UCLA, Dream Activist.org, the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, the California Dream Network, the staff and students at Santa Ana College, especially Cecilia Arriaza, and Hop Tarrant and the Bell High School Gay Student Alliance. We also want to thank Manuel Pastor and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. We also owe a huge thank you to Veronica Terriquez at the USC Department of Sociology for her insight and collaboration. Finally, none of this work could have happened without the participation and leadership from undocumented youth activists across the country.
Chapter 6: We wish to sincerely thank the staff, members, and supporters of Students for Liberty, which we have been thrilled to see grow tremendously in the years since we embarked on this case study. We especially thank SFL co-founder Alexander McCobin and Vice President Clark Ruper for their enthusiasm and openness about our work. We also thank the scholars, friends and activists who helped us with our exploratory research, including Paul Gamber III, Zhan Li, L. Paul Strait, Wes Benedict, Robert Butler, Norman Horn of Libertarian Longhorns, and members of Young Americans for Liberty. Thanks also to Kaja Tretjak and Amy Binder for their expertise and thoughtful advice on libertarian and conservative youth organizations. Lastly, we can’t underscore enough the valuable insights and contributions of all the interviewees who participated in this project. Their passion and determination is an inspiration.
Personal
Henry: I would like to personally thank Cynthia Jenkins, who has always been the most important sounding board and thinking partner for everything I produce; Charlie Jenkins, who also has become a key editor and collaborator on my work; and Amanda Ford, whose careful management of all aspects of my professional life enable me to achieve ten times what I could have otherwise.
Sangita: I thank my family for their inspiration and support. Amish Desai, Marek Desai, Miroslava Shresthova, and Rajendra Shrestha, I would be nothing without you.
Liana: Liana sincerely thanks John Gamber-Thompson and Lisa Gamber for their unwavering support as she pursued a long path of reading and writing things. She also thanks the winsome Wesley Gamber-Thompson, of whom she can only hope to be as supportive. She dedicates this work to Paul Gamber, who taught her that you’re never too old to find what you love.
Neta: Neta would like to thank her family for their continuous love, support, and encouragement, and for accommodating her research travel, even when it is to a fan conference. Yasha, Daniel, and Mattan, you are my endless source of strength and happiness.
Arely: Arely thanks her family for their support: Luis Andres and J. Angelina Zimmerman, Veronica, Andres, Gabriel and Christian Garcia, Ivelise Morales, Margarita and Ernie Castellanos, and Camilo and Carola Zimmerman. I dedicate this work to Graciela and Miguel Angel Claros, my guiding lights.
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Lastly, we thank and acknowledge each other. Over the course of five years, the MAPP team coalesced in an extraordinary way, and our personal and professional camaraderie runs deep. While writing this book together, our thinking around participatory politics grew, as did some of our bellies as three of the authors added three healthy baby boys (and future scholars?) to the