Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Sociology

Theses and Dissertations

2012

Immigration

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Who Is An American? The Construction Of American Identity In The Utah Minuteman Project, Michele Elizabeth Bendall Dec 2012

Who Is An American? The Construction Of American Identity In The Utah Minuteman Project, Michele Elizabeth Bendall

Theses and Dissertations

The Minuteman Project is a national civilian border patrol group, founded in 2005 to defend the U.S.-Mexico border from "invasion" by illegal immigrants and protest the "blatant disregard of the rule of law" exhibited by government and politicians. This study explores one state chapter of this organization: the Utah Minuteman Project (UMP). The research questions I seek to address are: Who are the Minutemen? What motivates them? How do the Minutemen define what it means to be an American? Using a grounded theory approach, I explore the construction of American identity among the members of the UMP using a range …