International Studies
Event Title
César Chávez and Strategies for Intercultural Cooperation
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
International Studies
Start Date
10-4-2015 8:45 AM
End Date
10-4-2015 10:00 AM
Sponsor
Gerald Waite (Ball State University)
Description
For my research project, I plan to focus on Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American activist born in Arizona. He was instrumental in reforming the treatment of immigrant farm workers through nonviolent means. He organized marches and boycotts against companies that produced table grapes, objecting to their unethical treatment of immigrant grape pickers. Immigrant workers often faced harsh work conditions, long hours, low wages, and exposure to harmful pesticides. Chavez roused a following of both immigrants and Americans that advocated for better treatment for farm workers and raised awareness about the abuses these workers endured. He gained social and political notoriety during his career as an activist, which won him the support of many liberal politicians, including Robert F. Kennedy. Chavez helped to form the National Farm Workers Association, which later became The United Farm Workers, an organization committed to regulating the treatment of immigrant laborers. He employed many nonviolent tactics throughout his career to aid the plight of farm workers, including a series of hunger strikes, the final of which led to his death in 1993.
My presentation will center on intercultural conflict, but will also contain some elements of Spanish language and Latin American issues and culture. I would like to direct my research to answer the following questions: What were the main challenges Chávez faced in regards to intercultural cooperation? What strategies did he employ in overcoming these obstacles? Were they or were they not effective, and why, and how can these strategies be applied to contemporary intercultural conflicts?
César Chávez and Strategies for Intercultural Cooperation
Indianapolis, IN
For my research project, I plan to focus on Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American activist born in Arizona. He was instrumental in reforming the treatment of immigrant farm workers through nonviolent means. He organized marches and boycotts against companies that produced table grapes, objecting to their unethical treatment of immigrant grape pickers. Immigrant workers often faced harsh work conditions, long hours, low wages, and exposure to harmful pesticides. Chavez roused a following of both immigrants and Americans that advocated for better treatment for farm workers and raised awareness about the abuses these workers endured. He gained social and political notoriety during his career as an activist, which won him the support of many liberal politicians, including Robert F. Kennedy. Chavez helped to form the National Farm Workers Association, which later became The United Farm Workers, an organization committed to regulating the treatment of immigrant laborers. He employed many nonviolent tactics throughout his career to aid the plight of farm workers, including a series of hunger strikes, the final of which led to his death in 1993.
My presentation will center on intercultural conflict, but will also contain some elements of Spanish language and Latin American issues and culture. I would like to direct my research to answer the following questions: What were the main challenges Chávez faced in regards to intercultural cooperation? What strategies did he employ in overcoming these obstacles? Were they or were they not effective, and why, and how can these strategies be applied to contemporary intercultural conflicts?