During the interwar period, California's labor-intensive agriculture transitioned from reliance on diverse immigrants to preference for Mexicans. Political movements to restrict immigration, the Great Depression, and labor unrest compelled farm employers to search for labor that could be used flexibly and deported easily. To achieve this…

Shows how political campaigning and legal action won a three-year battle (beginning in 1986) for tenure by an Asian Pacific American professor, D. Nakanishi, at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Describes the case's academic context, explains the legal alternatives, and analyzes the legal/political strategy adopted. (JB)

Describes the role of university students in professor D. Nakanishi's three-year battle for tenure at the University of California Los Angeles. Details the development and importance of a plan, outreach, and networking; and describes the campaign's connection with larger issues of justice and equal representation for Asian Pacific Americans. (JB)