The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement (review)

Book Reviews 139 While the mothers' movement never exceeded five or six million members and their activism faded quickly after the "Mass Sedition Trial" of 1944 (chapter eleven)—a case that ended in dismissal—Jeansonne urges careful contemplation of the movement's significance. That significance derives from the activists' alteration of "the historical conception of isolationism," their role in creating a political culture in which the demagoguery of a Joseph McCarthy might thrive, and their unique place in "twentieth-century women's history," a place that deviates sharply from dominant perspectives of "women as pacifists" (179-186). For Jeansonne's analysis of these influences as much as for the particular cases under examination, Women of the Far Right merits attention. Diane Cypkin Pace University The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. By Susan Ferriss and Ricardo Sandoval. New York: Harcourt Brace Sc Company, 1997; pp. 352. $25.00. In April of 1997, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) aired a documentary entitled "The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement." A companion volume by journalists Susan Ferriss and Ricardo Sandoval was published as a supplement to the documentary. Airing of the film and publication of the book were scheduled to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Chavez's death on April 22, 1993. Book and film aluce reflected the continued interest in both Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW). The Fight in the Fields presents an overview of Chavez's life and his efforts to improve the lives of poor people. In presenting that overview, Ferriss and Sandoval provide a clear, readable story of the major periods in Chavez's life: as a migrant; as an organizer for the Community Services Organization (CSO); as creator and leader of the union's dramatic strike of 1965-70, which made him a national figure; as the union's commander during battles with the Teamsters in the 1970s; as politician attempting to pass legislation favorable to farm workers; and as an administrator trying to maintain the union during difficult times in the 1980s and 1990s. In their narrative, Ferriss and Sandoval often rely on the public discourse of Chavez and his followers, as much of the story is told through their words. The book also includes excerpts from works which focus on the lives of farm workers, a public letter from Chavez to the leaders of the growers association, and poetry and eulogies about Chavez. Such sources strengthen the book's clearly articulated argument. Ferriss and Sandoval detail the debates between Chavez and his opponents in agriculture, politics, and the legal system. During his years with the CSO (1952-62), 140 Rhetoric & Public Affairs for example, Chavez worked to organize poor people into community groups, registered Mexican-Americans to vote, and helped individuals solve their personal problems. The authors detail how Chavez was challenged by members of the establishments he fought, as well as by middle-class Mexican-Americans who feared they would lose power if Chavez succeeded in creating effective organizations among the poor. While his opponents questioned Chavez's motives and labeled him a Communist, argumentative tactics quite common in the 1950s and 1960s, Ferriss and Sandoval illuminate Chavez's skillful refutation of such specious allegations. Also detaüed is Chavez's evolution from CSO organizer to union leader, as he succeeded in establishing a union among farm workers, a powerless group that many felt could not be organized. Most of the book focuses on the public dispute between Chavez and the powerful agriculture industry in California, an industry supported by the state's political, legal, and—often—religious institutions. Ferriss and Sandoval outline agriculture leaders' tactics in their attempt to destroy Chavez's credibility by labeling him a troublemaker, a Communist, and an individual whose own questionable purposes motivated his efforts to organize farm workers. Particularly striking are the authors' detailed treatments of the companies' efforts to create their own unions to challenge the UFW, to use their influence in farming communities to limit the tactics Chavez's union might use, to form alliances with the Teamsters in an attempt to defeat Chavez and the UFW, and to recruit political figures—including Ronald...