UC Riverside UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Balancing Life: Women, Family, and Work, in California Agribusiness Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87n3q5v1 Author Cantine, Pamela Ann Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Balancing Life: Women, Family, and Work in California Agribusiness A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Pamela Ann Cantine December 2015 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Juan-Vicente Palerm, Co-Chairperson Dr. Thomas C. Patterson, Co-Chairperson Dr. Yolanda Moses Copyright by Pamela Ann Cantine 2015 The Dissertation of Pamela Ann Cantine is approved: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Committee Co-Chairperson ________________________________________________ Committee Co-Chairperson University of California, Riverside Acknowledgements A dissertation is not only the work of its writer but, at its foundation, is built on the support and encouragement of many people and institutions. I am most thankful to my Chair, Professor Juan-Vicente Palerm who read every draft of this manuscript throughout the writing process to its completion, adding insight, discerning comments and criticism. Through his classes, fieldwork trips, and personal discussions, he became the image of the kind of anthropologist I wanted to be. I thank Professors Thomas C. Patterson and Yolanda Moses for their generosity in accepting my request to be a part of my committee and for their unfailing support in my completion of this project. And because of the time involved in my completion of this project, I owe special thanks to Professors Michael Kearney, Maria Cruz-Torres and Brian D. Haley who were original members of my committee and who continued to encourage and support me. All of you have been important to my intellectual development and have impacted my life in ways that I cannot begin to express. I also want to thank Professor Carlos Velez-Ibanez for taking me under his arm and instructing me in ethnography, fieldwork, theory and so much more. I loved being a member of “The Irregulars.” Thank you Professor Devra Weber for your class on Oral History as this is the heart of my research. iv I would like to acknowledge the support of our Anthropology Department, especially Joy Sage for keeping me on track with my funding, Dawn Whelchel who made sure I was enrolled every quarter and handled problems that to me seemed insurmountable but that she dealt with ease. Dawn made it a joy to come into the office. And to Jessica Busse-Jones, who took Dawn’s position in the Department, I thank you for continuing in Dawn’s footsteps, making me feel at home in the Department while you were there and helping me with the myriad of problems that erupted during this process and for pointing me in the right direction. And to Lilia Liderbach, Anna Wire, and Becky Campbell, thank you so much for all your help at the end of this journey. Your help propelled me through the final steps and are appreciated from the bottom of my heart. I owe so many thanks to my colleagues, many of whom have become the closest of friends in my life and I can’t imagine my life without you. Thank you Travis Du Bry for some of the greatest experiences during our fieldwork experience together, from introducing me to music that I never would have listened to, particularly “The Pixies,” to some of the greatest eating establishments, and thank you for reading my manuscript towards the end of this process and your kind suggestions. Alison E. Lee, your support and friendship has never wavered and you continue to be an inspiration to me. Konane Martinez, thank you so much for your friendship and for introducing me to people in the Coachella Valley who have also become some of my closest friends; I love and v cherish our discussions on the floor of my living room. Your support to this day means so very much to me. Jennifer Browder, your encouragement has been one of a kind, from “Just get it done,” to “get a bag of Hot Tamale cinnamon candies, that’s what worked for me”…I kept a bag of Hot Tamales next to my desktop at all times. I was fortunate to receive funding from a UC MEXUS dissertation grant that funded my research in the Coachella Valley and am extremely grateful to the staff at UC MEXUS during the time of my fieldwork and the encouragement I was given, particularly from Andrea Kaus and David Kropf. Without the growers in Mecca who allowed me access to their fields, as well as Sister Esperanza Jasso, Rosalinda Rodriquez, Xochitl Garcia, Audelia Rodriguez, Elena Gaytan, and the farm working women in the Coachella Valley, particularly those who lived in Mecca, North Shore, and Coachella who allowed me to share in some of the moments of their lives, this dissertation would not have been possible. Your kindness and generosity for including me in family events and celebrations, and for sharing your life stories with me have put me forever in your debt. And thank you for taking me under your wings, teaching and sharing wonderful recipes with me And finally, this dissertation would not be possible if not for the love and support of my husband, Charles W. Burney. You continue to be my hero and my vi inspiration. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for weathering this lengthy process with me, I dedicate this dissertation to you. vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Balancing Life: Women, Family, and Work in California Agribusiness by Pamela Ann Cantine Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Anthropology University of California, Riverside, December, 2015 Dr. Juan-Vicente Palerm, Co-Chairperson Dr. Thomas C. Patterson, Co-Chairperson Capitalist agriculture, not family farming has dominated the California agricultural economy throughout its history and unlike the rest of the nation has relied upon the interchangeability of numerous migrant and immigrant groups whose employment opportunities were limited. An examination of the history of California agribusiness highlights four periods in which the labor force is mainly single/unattached males, or family units. This dissertation examines the social and economic consequences of the changing use of labor in California agribusiness and the impact of these changes on women farm workers and their families. Mexican-origin and Dust Bowl families are the only two family groups who have labored in California agribusiness during the twentieth century. The historical importance of women farm workers has been neglected in the literature of California agriculture, as well as the importance of family and household strategies in the initial incorporation of women into agricultural wage work. I document the contributions of Mexican-origin farm working women within the context of their historical experiences, viii along with the strategies that they and their families utilized, making the family viable as an important labor unit despite the disruptions and complexities of a pattern of changing labor in California agribusiness. I focus on the role of women in California agribusiness and their importance in the settlement process, family maintenance, and community development. Women enter wage labor out of extreme needs of the family and at times as heads of households, and their income is essential to the survival of the family. Their entry into wage work adds substantially to their workload as they continue their domestic role in addition to their role as wage worker. They and their families acquire substantial benefits from the women’s involvement in community building and networking with institutions that are available to them, particularly if they acquire English as a second language. ix Table of Contents Acknowledgements...............................................................................................iv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION...........................................................viii Table of Contents...................................................................................................x List of Figures............... .....................................................................................xiii List of Tables.......................................................................................................xiv Chapter One: Introduction.................. ...................................................................1 1.1-Farm Labor in California Agribusiness........................................................7 Chinese Farm Laborer......................................................... ..............................7 Japanese Farm Laborers.....................................................................................9 Filipino Farm Laborers.....................................................................................10 Punjabi Farm Laborers......................................................................................11 Mexican Farm Laborers....................................................................................12 White Migrant Dust Bowl Farm Laborers........................................................14 Mexican Farm Laborers (cont.)........................................................................15 1.2-Women and Families in California Agribusiness........................................19 1.3-Women in California Agribusiness.........................................................