Two of the most significant themes in Chicana feminist thought are the character of mestiza consciousness and the view that political solidarity--that is, the uniting of diverse people in common cause--should build upon diversity among peoples rather than on a single shared identity. Numerous Chicana and Latina feminists have connected these two…

During the interwar period, California's labor-intensive agriculture transitioned from reliance on diverse immigrants to preference for Mexicans. Political movements to restrict immigration, the Great Depression, and labor unrest compelled farm employers to search for labor that could be used flexibly and deported easily. To achieve this…

Based on a collaborative ethnography with Lideres Campesinas, a state-wide farmworker women's organization in California, this essay explores how activists have created multi-issued organizing strategies grounded in family structures and a community-based social world. Building on Gloria Anzaldua's theory of nepantla, it illustrates how campesina…

In this article, the author reflects on the events that took place in the year 1972. The author was a junior at the University of New Mexico back then, refusing to eat or buy grapes and lettuce, picketing grocers who did not carry United Farm Workers of America produce. He and his buddies cast their votes against granting Richard Nixon a second…

The Mexican Farm Labor Program brought in an unprecedented number of Mexican workers to perform harvesting jobs in U.S. agriculture between 1942 and 1964. A political economy perspective is used to examine the process by which U.S. agriculture has come to depend on Mexican workers.