Of Forests and Fields

Mexican Labor in the Pacific Northwest

Author: Mario Jimenez Sifuentez
ISBN: 9780813576893

Just looking at the Pacific Northwest’s many verdant forests and fields, it may be hard to imagine the intense work it took to transform the region into the agricultural powerhouse it is today. Much of this labor was provided by Mexican guest workers, Tejano migrants, and undocumented immigrants, who converged on the region beginning in the mid-1940s. Of Forests and Fields tells the story of these workers, who toiled in the fields, canneries, packing sheds, and forests, turning the Pacific Northwest into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country.  Employing an innovative approach that traces the intersections between Chicana/o labor and environmental history, Mario Sifuentez shows how ethnic Mexican workers responded to white communities that only welcomed them when they were economically useful, then quickly shunned them. He vividly renders the feelings of isolation and desperation that led to the formation of ethnic Mexican labor organizations like the Pinero

Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publish Date: 2016-03-08

Subjects: Social Science / Ethnic Studies / Hispanic American Studies, Business & Economics / Labor, Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations, Social Science / Sociology / Rural, Social Science / Emigration & Immigration, Social Science / Minority Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Latinx/Chicanx American (LCXA))