The University of Arizona Press
¡Huelga!
Indigenous Farm Labor Organizing in Mexico
On March 17, 2015, tens of thousands of Mexican farmworkers went on strike in San Quintin, Baja California, to protest horrible working conditions on the farms that produce most of the fresh fruits and vegetables you consume. Calling themselves the “slaves of the twenty-first century,” these mostly Indigenous men, women, and children rose up in defiance of the conditions of modern slavery, forced labor, sexual harassment, and “hunger wages.” This ethnography provides an in-depth look into how Indigenous farmworkers organize in the fields and their communities to improve wages and working conditions.
Since the strike, the farmworkers have organized a union to fight for justice in the fields. In this work, author James Daria accompanies these farmworkers as they struggle for dignity. Daria also charts the tensions inside the farmworker movement as women struggle to gain greater power in the home as well as at work. In an era of complex global integration, Daria shows us how what we eat is tied to the suffering of those who produce our food.
This book highlights and centers the Indigenous workers who struggle for justice in a global food system that connects us all.
“This book offers a compelling ethnographic account of the Indigenous Triqui, Zapotec, and Mixtec farmworkers laboring in Baja California’s San Quintín Valley as they struggle for dignity, fair labor conditions, and political voice. Through grounded research and incisive analysis, James Daria exposes how transnational agribusinesses exploit fair trade practices to sidestep independent unions while projecting a benevolent image to U.S. consumers. He also provides a fresh view on Indigenous women’s pivotal roles as political actors navigating patriarchal and institutional barriers. Written with empathy and commitment, this book makes a courageous and necessary intervention in debates on food, labor, and Indigenous workers’ struggles in the era of transnational agriculture.”—Christian Zlolniski, author of Made in Baja: The Lives of Farmworkers and Growers Behind Mexico’s Transnational Agricultural Boom
