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

Abstract

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.