Dialogue

Cesar Chavez : Immigration and A Culture of Peace

Date: July 31, 2011
Time: 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Location: Cal Poly Pomona, Bronco Student Center, Centaurus

Many politicians and pundits today claim that Latino/a immigration to the United States poses a threat to the well-being of the nation.  In this talk, Professor Orosco argues that Cesar Chavez (1927-1993), a pioneer-leader of farm workers movement and civil rights activist, came to a different understanding of the impact of immigration on our public life.  Chavez maintained that the presence of Mexican immigrants in the United States was not a threat to American democracy, but rather, a resource. For Chavez, a growing Latino/a community was an opportunity to reexamine the public values of American society dedicated mostly, in his view, to military and corporate dominance. Chavez worked to develop a broad based social movement grounded in Mexican folk culture and history to initiate this reexamination and help the nation further in its journey toward a culture of peace.

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Joseph Orosco

Joseph Orosco is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Peace Studies Program at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He is the author of Cesar Chavez: The Commonsense of Nonviolence. His course offerings include political philosophy with an emphasis on democratic theory and Latin American thought, the history of Chicano/a Civil Rights Movement, and a seminar on the philosophical foundations for conflict resolution, social justice, and peace.

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