Stone Inequality & Social Policy Seminar: Roberto F. Carlos

Information Brokers: Political Socialization in Latino Immigrant Families

Roberto F. Carlos, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan

Abstract: How do people actually learn politics inside families? This talk draws from a forthcoming book that flips the traditional story of political socialization. Instead of focusing on what parents teach children, it highlights how children, especially in Latino immigrant families, often guide their parents through schools, laws, elections, and everyday civic life. In helping their families navigate unfamiliar institutions, children don’t just translate information; they shape political choices and participation. These experiences also become an early training ground, helping young people develop confidence and advocacy skills long before they can vote. The talk will show how political influence inside families often runs both ways, and how immigration reshapes where political knowledge, authority, and agency come from. 

Roberto F. Carlos is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan. His research examines how Latinx immigrants and their children incorporate politically, and how political institutions and the American public respond to their efforts to create a place for themselves in the United States. His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, Justice System Journal, Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, and The Journal of Legislative Studies.