A.1.a.i. California Grape Pickers' Strike and Boycott Campaign, 1965-1970

Volume Two -> A. Campaigns for Social and Economic Justice -> A.1. Campaigns by Workers -> A.1.a. Selected Strikes -> A.1.a.i. California Grape Pickers' Strike and Boycott Campaign, 1965-1970

This was an important strike by the very poor and marginalized Chicano (Mexican American) workers, supported by wider union action to boycott handling grapes and by a consumer boycott, so it has attracted widespread interest on the left. Because of the emphasis on maintaining nonviolence, especially by the leading figure Cesar Chavez, it is also well covered in books on nonviolent action.

Bardacke, Frank Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers Union, London and New York, Verso, 2011 , pp. 840

Very detailed account and analysis by former civil rights activist who also worked in the fields for six seasons 1971 and 1979, charting contradictions within the movement and the role of Chavez, based on hundreds of field reports and first hand experience.
Dalton, John The Moral Vision of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement, New York, Harcourt Brace, 1988 , pp. 350

Day, Mark Forty Acres: Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers, New York, Praeger, 1971 , pp. 222

Ferris, Susan; Sandoval, Ricardo The Fight for the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement, (Foreword by Gary Soto), New York, Harcourt Brace and Co, 1998 , pp. 352

Well documented and illustrated account of movement.
Jenkins, Craig The Politics of Insurgency: The Farm Workers Movement in the 1960s, New York, Columbia University Press, 1985 , pp. 261

Levy, Jacques Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa, New York, W.W. Norton, 1975 , pp. 546

Merriman, Hardy Californian Grape Workers’ Strike and Boycott 1965-1970, In Gene Sharp, Waging Nonviolent Struggle: 20th Century Practice and 21st Century Potential (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) Boston, Porter Sargent, 2005 , pp. 173-187

Orosco, José-Antonio Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence, Albuquerque, NM, University of New Mexico Press, 2008 , pp. 160

Rosales, Francisco Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, Houston TX, Arte Publico, 1997 , pp. 304

Rose, Margaret Women Power Will Stop these Grapes: Chicana Organizers and Middle Class Female Supporters in the Farmworkers’ Grape Boycott in Philadelphia, 1969-70, issue Winter, 1995 , pp. 8-33

Taylor, Ronald Chavez and the Farm Workers, Boston, Beacon Press, 1975 , pp. 342

Includes assessment of impact of grape pickers’ strike on immigrant labour in other industries.

Websites recommended

Californian Grape Workers’ Strike and Boycott 1965-1970 Boston Porter Sargent, 2005
Cesar Chavez and the Common Sense of Nonviolence Albuquerque, NM University of New Mexico Press, 2008
Cesar Chavez: Autobiography of La Causa New York W.W. Norton, 1975
Chavez and the Farm Workers Boston Beacon Press, 1975

Includes assessment of impact of grape pickers’ strike on immigrant labour in other industries.
Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement Houston TX Arte Publico, 1997
Forty Acres: Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers New York Praeger, 1971
The Fight for the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers Movement New York Harcourt Brace and Co, 1998

Well documented and illustrated account of movement.
The Moral Vision of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement New York Harcourt Brace, 1988
The Politics of Insurgency: The Farm Workers Movement in the 1960s New York Columbia University Press, 1985
Trampling Out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers Union London and New York Verso, 2011

Very detailed account and analysis by former civil rights activist who also worked in the fields for six seasons 1971 and 1979, charting contradictions within the movement and the role of Chavez, based on hundreds of field reports and first hand experience.
Women Power Will Stop these Grapes: Chicana Organizers and Middle Class Female Supporters in the Farmworkers’ Grape Boycott in Philadelphia, 1969-70 , 1995

See also:

A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements
Ganz, Marshall, Why David Sometimes Wins: Leadership, Organisation, and Strategy in the California Farm Worker Movements, (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements)