Our People Are Still Resisting Farmworker Community Organizing and the Texas Agricultural System

• Published in: Organization & environment Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 175 - 191
• Main Author: Edwards, Michelle L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01-06-2011; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Agricultural industry; Agricultural Production; Agricultural Research; Agricultural workers; Agriculture; Agronomy; Capitalism; Case studies; Collaboration; Communities; Community organization; Community organizing; Ecology; Economics; Empowerment; Environmental justice; Farming; Farming systems; Farms; Farmworkers; Leadership; Modes of production; Political Economy; Resistance; Rural Communities; Social justice; Social organization; Texas; U.S.A; Women; Working women; USA, Texas; agricultural industry; farmworkers; capitalist system of production; community organizing; Texas; resistance
• ISSN: 1086-0266; 1552-7417
• DOI: 10.1177/1086026611412082

Previous research demonstrates that the contemporary industrial agricultural system in the United States is ecologically and socially destructive. In many ways, it exemplifies the capitalist system of production. A case study of farmworker community organizers in Texas reveals that a key aspect of organizers’ resistance to the industrial agricultural system is a critique of the overall capitalist system. Semistructured, in-depth interviews demonstrate that organizers’ strategies for resistance include integrating human and environmental issues; working outside of the system; increasing inclusivity through incorporating women leaders, families, and community empowerment efforts; and emphasizing collaborative and nonhierarchical systems. This study identifies how, within the context of this resistance, the environmental justice approach can be a useful supplement to the treadmill of production and Marxian political economy approaches.