Exploitation and Migrant Farm Workers Assignment (requires reading or watching a documentary)

For this assignment, you have the choice to watch a documentary or read a chapter about the experiences of migrant farm workers in the U.S. Then answer questions based on the lectures and film/reading and submit them here. (Note, this is not a quiz or survey; it's just an assignment. I'm using that feature in Canvas for this assignment.)

STEP 1: Watch or Read

You have the option to watch a film OR read a chapter (PDF below).

Film

The film I would like the class to watch is The Harvest/La Cosecha (2011). The film is about 80 minutes long. Our library does not have a copy of this film, so I have listed some ways to watch the film below:

Option 1: You can rent it from YouTube for 2.99.

Option 2: The DVD is available to borrow through the Seattle Public Library.

(Option 3: The film is sometimes available to watch/rent through Amazon Prime. You have to check for current availability.)

Chapter 

If you prefer, you can read the following ethnographic chapter about migrant farm workers instead: Miles and Sonneville The Cultural Construction of Poverty.pdf

STEP 2: Answer Questions

Write your answers to the following questions. 

Write answers for each of the following questions. Write them in sentence/paragraph form of approximately 1-5 sentences per question, depending on the question. 

(From the lectures:)

1. List the three types of production described in the lecture and the Perspectives Chapter 6: Economics reading. (The same three are described both places.) Choose one of the three and describe it. 
2. List the three types of exchange described in the lecture and the Perspectives Chapter 6: Economics reading. (The same three are described both places.)  In a few words, define each one. 
3. Who is Karl Marx and why is he important?
4. Briefly (1 sentence each) describe each of the following:
   1. alienation
   2. the means of production
   3. the relations of production
   4. asymmetry of labor negotiations
   5. commodity fetishism
5. Share one other thing you thought was interesting from the lecture and the Perspectives Chapter 6: Economics reading.

(From the film or chapter:)

6. Describe an aspect of the The Harvest (2011) OR the chapter on migrant farm workers that showed you something you hadn’t seen before, caused you to think in a new way, or helped you understand something more thoroughly than before. Then describe how it changed your thinking.

7. Choose two of Marx’s terms (from question four, above) and explain how they were demonstrated in the film or chapter.

8. Share one other thing you thought was interesting from the film or chapter about migrant farm workers in the U.S. 

STEP 3: Submit your Answers

Submit your answers by clicking the blue, "Take The Survey" button below and copying your answers into the box in the "survey." Although I am using the survey feature for this, it is not a survey. This is just an assignment. Do your best, but I'm not grading you on getting the right answer; you will be graded based on your sincere attempt to answer the questions and showing that you have read watched the lecture and read the article, even if you didn't understand all of it.

Please get in touch if you have any issues submitting your answers.

STEP 4: Check Answers

After you submit your assignment, my answers to the questions should be visible on your screen below the answers you submitted. (You may have to scroll down to see them.) I recommend reading through them as a way to check your own understandings. If you have questions about anything, please get in touch.