Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire : Puerto Rican Workers on U.S. Farms / Ismael García-Colón.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

García-Colón, Ismael, Author.

Series:

American crossroads.

American Crossroads ; 57

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Puerto Ricans--United States--Migrations.

Puerto Ricans.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 326 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire is the first in-depth look at the experiences of Puerto Rican migrant workers in continental U.S. agriculture in the twentieth century. The Farm Labor Program, established by the government of Puerto Rico in 1947, placed hundreds of thousands of migrant workers on U.S. farms and fostered the emergence of many stateside Puerto Rican communities. Ismael García-Colón investigates the origins and development of this program and uncovers the unique challenges faced by its participants.A labor history and an ethnography, Colonial Migrants evokes the violence, fieldwork, food, lodging, surveillance, and coercion that these workers experienced on farms and conveys their hopes and struggles to overcome poverty. Island farmworkers encountered a unique form of prejudice and racism arising from their dual status as both U.S. citizens and as “foreign others,” and their experiences were further shaped by evolving immigration policies. Despite these challenges, many Puerto Rican farmworkers ultimately chose to settle in rural U.S. communities, contributing to the production of food and the Latinization of the U.S. farm labor force.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. The Making of Colonial Migrant Farmworkers

2. Establishing the Farm Labor Program

3. Implementing Contract Migration

4. Pa’lla Afuera and the Life Experiences of Migrants

5. Labor Camps as Prisons in the Fields

6. Puerto Ricans in the Rural United States

7. Labor Organizing and the End of an Era

Epilogue

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

9780520974272

0520974271

OCLC:

1122698153