The paper suggests that by studying the Hawaiian plantation system, seventh graders can gain understanding of personal values and ethnic heritage. The current racial and cultural diversity in Hawaii is a result of mass immigration initiated in 1876 by the needs of the sugar and pineapple industries. Over 400,000 field workers from China, Japan,…

Examines characteristics and immigration experiences of young male Israeli immigrants to New York City who find work in car washes and furniture moving, jobs requiring neither special skills nor work papers. Differences in background and long-range immigration plans between the groups are discussed. (SLD)

This paper summarizes a 22-month ethnographic study of rural Shandon (California), a community that demonstrates the social and demographic changes resulting from agricultural intensification in rural California. Changes in the Shandon area's agricultural production have produced a demographic shift from the homogeneous Anglo-American farming and…

This report provides information on the characteristics and work patterns of United States agricultural workers performing seasonal agricultural services (SAS) during fiscal year 1990. SAS crops include the majority of nursery products, cash grains, field crops, and all fruits and vegetables. More than 2,000 personal interviews with SAS workers…

Since the late 1970s, California's rural poor (frequently immigrants and refugees) have been engaged in grassroots efforts to change the cultural and political landscapes of their communities. Told in the words of rural people, this book presents six stories of struggle and empowerment. In Yuba City, Latino and East Indian farmworkers felt that…

The book describes working and living conditions among migrant laborers in the northern Canadian work camps, 1903-1914. The early chapters sketch the development of Canada's transportation systems from the mid-19th century as the setting for the development of labor camps, and describe the contract system in railway construction. The heart of the…

Following the removal of the Freedman's Bureau and failure of labor recruitment efforts targeted to Chinese and European immigrants, the practices of sharecropping, tenant farming, and the hiring of convict labor replaced slave labor in the South's postbellum agricultural economy. Lack of minimal economic power among freed Blacks resulted in slave…

Employment characteristics, including employment status, history, and employment search patterns, were compared among three migrant groups--immigrants, recent migrants, and long-term migrants--from a representative sample of 218 migrant farmworkers randomly drawn in Wayne County, New York, during the summer of 1982. Results indicated that…

This paper discusses the development and testing of a literacy unit in basic English as a second language (ESL) for Canadian farmworkers based on the Freirian principles of designing adult education curriculum. The Freirian approach looks at adult learners in the context of their daily reality and uses literacy as a vehicle for the students'…

This kit provides a summary of a scholarly paper, discussion questions, and activities to promote constructive debate between scholars and ethnic groups about the role of women in working class ethnic communities. The paper identifies these women as descendants of immigrant women who still live in large industrial centers of the East and Midwest.…

During the summer of 1982, 218 randomly-selected migrant farmworkers in Wayne County, New York were interviewed to determine the significant factors affecting use of health services among migrant farmworkers. Three groups were identified: immigrants, recent migrants, and long-term migrants. Medical utilization patterns, use of community medical…

The relationships among community characteristics and community well-being were examined for all 366 rural California communities with a population of 1,000-2,000. High proportions of Latinos and new immigrants in a community population were positively related to unemployment, percent children, and employment in agriculture, and negatively related…

This report presents current information on the characteristics and work patterns of hired laborers who perform crop work in the United States. Information was obtained from interviews with 4,199 workers in 85 counties between October 1, 1996 and September 30, 1998. Chapters 1-3 provide information about the farmworkers themselves, including…

This paper examines the social and economic impacts of Mexican immigration on Fresno (California). Since the early 1980s, immigration to California has been dominated by illegal immigrants from rural Mexico seeking agricultural jobs in rural California. This rural migration impacts urban centers in agricultural regions; these impacts lag the…

This study was conducted to gather more definitive information about aliens who were newly legalized under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Two groups of eligible legal aliens were interviewed in Florida: those residing in the United States before 1982 (PRE-82s) and special agricultural workers (SAWs). The 1,300 subjects were asked…