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Farmworkers and the Law

Professor(s)

Professor(s)

Semester

2022 Summer Environmental - Weekend Intensive

About This Class

The approximately two million farmworkers who grow our food are essential to this country. Yet they are often overlooked in national policy efforts on issues ranging from immigration law to environmental justice. In some areas, like labor rights and occupational health and safety, they are explicitly denied certain basic protections. This course will detail farmworkers’ current living and working conditions as well as the history of their exclusion from key laws and regulations. It will also explore current tools and strategies used by farmworker advocates at both the state and federal level, including litigation, legislative advocacy, and administrative advocacy. The class seeks to highlight how the intersection of different legal regimes impacts farmworkers and their families. Its goal is to encourage students to first focus on understanding a particular community, and then analyze whether and how the law could be an effective tool in serving that community. 

Class Code

ENV5901.01

Subject

Environmental Law