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Giants in the Fields: Agribusiness and Farm Labor Politics in the United States
Author(s) -
Benson Peter
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
anthropology of work review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.151
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1417
pISSN - 0883-024X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1417.2010.01042.x
Subject(s) - politics , capital (architecture) , blame , government (linguistics) , value (mathematics) , political science , narrative , political economy , sociology , law , geography , psychiatry , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
This article examines the cultural politics of farm labor organizing in North Carolina's tobacco‐producing region. Exploring the form and content of a theatrical performance staged in a labor camp by union affiliates, I show how the play builds on strategic cultural stereotypes about growers and workers. The play focuses on the theme of farmworker squalor and questions of who is responsible and who is to blame. While the play clearly has immediate pedagogical and political value for workers and participants, a narrative of good actors and bad actors occludes a full appreciation of the role of multinational capital and government neglect in inducing harm endured by farm labor and constraints faced by growers. This case study permits insights into the relevance of cultural performance in contemporary efforts to invoke ethical concerns and make policy improvements in agriculture and to develop constructive criticism about farm labor organizing and outreach strategies.