Soo Young Lee
Research interests: Critical storytelling methods, Asian American identity formation, Critical/Political consciousness development among youth of color, Asian American feminist theory, AsianCrit, Abolitionist solidarities
Soo Young Lee's work is indelibly shaped by her experiences of (critical) care in organizing and other community spaces. Grounded in an Asian American and Women of Color feminist praxis, her research engages critical storytelling methods to explore experiences and meanings of political awakening, identity, and solidarity with Asian American and other young people of color.
Her dissertation is guided by inquiry into how young, politically engaged Asian American women in the Chicagoland area spanning a range of ethnic backgrounds, immigrant legacies, political histories, and social locations are moved to work towards addressing the conditions of inequity that impact people’s lives. She draws on reflexive group-based storytelling as both a data collection method and feminist practice of critical care ethics. Through these explorations at the intersections of race, gender, place, and beyond, she seeks to illuminate sites of possibility within young people’s social contexts to develop their critical consciousness while tending to their wellbeing.