In 1941 a land redistribution plan was aimed at empowering landless workers by placing them in houses and building communities for them. Garcia-Colon assesses the technical and political aspects and the ways the Puerto Rican people resisted accomodated, and influenced the development this plan brought about.

Colonial Migrants at the Heart of Empire is the first in-depth look at the experiences of Puerto Rican migrant workers in continental U.S. agriculture in the twentieth century. The Farm Labor Program, established by the government of Puerto Rico in 1947, placed hundreds of thousands of migrant workers on U.S. farms and fostered the emergence of many stateside Puerto Rican communities. Ismael García-Colón investigates the origins and development of this program and uncovers the unique challenges faced by its participants. A labor history and an ethnography, Colonial Migrants evokes the violence, fieldwork, food, lodging, surveillance, and coercion that these workers experienced on farms and conveys their hopes and struggles to overcome poverty. Island farmworkers encountered a unique form of prejudice and racism arising from their dual status as both U.S. citizens and as “foreign others,” and their experiences were further shaped by evolving immigration policies. Despite these challenges, many Puerto Rican farmworkers ultimately chose to settle in rural U.S. communities, contributing to the production of food and the Latinization of the U.S. farm labor force.

Challenges dominant interpretations of colonialism's impact on the economy and social structuring of a US-owned Caribbean colony.

Offering a comprehensive overview of Puerto Rico's history and evolution since the installation of U.S. rule, Cesar Ayala and Rafael Bernabe connect the island's economic, political, cultural, and social past. Puerto Rico in the American Century explores Puerto Ricans in the diaspora as well as the island residents, who experience an unusual and daily conundrum: they consider themselves a distinct people but are part of the American political system; they have U.S. citizenship but are not represented in the U.S. Congress; and they live on land that is neither independent nor part of the United States. Highlighting both well-known and forgotten figures from Puerto Rican history, Ayala and Bernabe discuss a wide range of topics, including literary and cultural debates and social and labor struggles that previous histories have neglected. Although the island's political economy remains dependent on the United States, the authors also discuss Puerto Rico's situation in light of world economies. Ayala and Bernabe argue that the inability of Puerto Rico to shake its colonial legacy reveals the limits of free-market capitalism, a break from which would require a renewal of the long tradition of labor and social activism in Puerto Rico in connection with similar currents in the United States.

The news from Zimbabwe is usually unremittingly bleak owing to the success of the Mugabe regime’s control of information and sequestration/elimination of political opponents. Perhaps no issue has aroused such ire as the land reforms Mugabe has implemented, which, according to what journalist reports are available, have largely benefited Mugabe’s cronies. ZimbabweTakes Back it Land, however, offers a much more positive and nuanced assessment of land reform in Zimbabwe, one that counters the dominant narratives of oppression and economic stagnation. While not minimizing the depredations of the Mugabe regime, and admitting that many of Mugabe’s supporters benefited from the dictators largesse, the authors show how ordinary Zimbabweans have taken charge of their destinies in creative and unacknowledged ways through their use of land holdings obtained through Mugabe’s land reform programs. This is an inspiring story of collective agency by the exploited, and how development can take place in even the most hostile of circumstances.

In 1941 a land redistribution plan was aimed at empowering landless workers by placing them in houses and building communities for them. Garcia-Colon assesses the technical and political aspects and the ways the Puerto Rican people resisted accomodated, and influenced the development this plan brought about.