Lost in translation “en el Fil”: Actualizing structural humility for Indigenous Mexican farmworkers in California

Abstract

This study demonstrates how we espoused a structural competent point of reference and operationalized the concept of structural humility for the purposes of conducting a communication evaluation strategy in support of California farmworkers. Strengthened by Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and the principles of critical race theory, a two-phase qualitative research process was developed to understand whether state agency resources were adequately addressing workplace vulnerabilities in the agricultural fields. We conducted, first, a comprehensive content analysis of labor educational resources and, second, a series of focus groups with California Labor Agency staff, community advocacy organizations, and farmworkers of Mestizo and Indigenous Mexican origin. This study makes a significant contribution to structural humility scholarship, addressing the structural systems of power that perpetuate the marginalization of immigrant and Indigenous farmworkers. The methodology and findings advance support for organizations that work with immigrant and Indigenous populations and seek to interrogate sociopolitical inequities.