Dignity and Just Treatment of Workers

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-46
Author(s):  
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Farm Workers ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
United Farm Workers ◽  
Catholic Worker ◽  
Dorothy Day ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rerum Novarum ◽  
Cesar Chavez ◽  
Catholic Worker Movement

This chapter examines some of the historical trends, events, individuals, and experiences that pushed Pope Leo XIII in 1891 to release Rerum Novarum, the first papal encyclical. It also summarizes the main themes of this encyclical, whose title is translated as “The Condition of Labor.” It further provides an overview of the second papal encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno (“After Forty Years,” also known as “The Reconstruction of the Social Order”), released in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. The chapter concludes with an exploration of how these teachings on labor were interpreted and put into practice by the Catholic Worker movement, led by Dorothy Day, and the United Farm Workers movement, led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta.

The Eucharist as a Source of Political Action: Dorothy Day as a living example of Johann Baptist Metz’s “Dangerous Memory”

2021 ◽  
pp. 001452462110570
Author(s):  
Riyako Cecilia Hikota
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Catholic Worker ◽  
Dorothy Day ◽  
Johann Baptist Metz ◽  
Catholic Worker Movement

Attending Mass and helping the suffering are not two separate things. In Christian life, the former should directly lead to the latter. In order to clarify this deep connection, first I will turn to Johann Baptist Metz, especially the centrality of the concept of anamnesis in his theology and hence how his political theology is deeply linked with or actually grounded in the Eucharist and liturgy, for which anamnesis is an essential concept. Metz points out the centrality of the “dangerous” memory of the crucified Lord for the Christian faith and suggests that when we remember the suffering of Christ we also remember all of the victims of history. Further, this memory of accumulated suffering should prepare us for socially emancipatory action. Thus, through the concept of anamnesis, we can see how participating in Mass should directly lead to political action on behalf of the suffering. As a concrete example of this connection realized, I will look at Dorothy Day in the second half of the paper. The Eucharist was central to her conversion, her spirituality, and her Catholic Worker Movement. In her, we can see a concrete example of the living memory of the suffering constantly nourished by the Eucharist and realized as a socially emancipatory action. Thus, by looking at Day through the lens provided by Metz with a focus on the living memory of suffering, I will stress that the Eucharist, “the source and summit of the Christian life,” is the key to bring theology into action.

Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Movement

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Garcia
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
The State ◽  
Farm Workers ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Agricultural Labor ◽  
National Union ◽  
United Farm Workers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cesar Chavez

In September 1962, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) held its first convention in Fresno, California, initiating a multiracial movement that would result in the creation of United Farm Workers (UFW) and the first contracts for farm workers in the state of California. Led by Cesar Chavez, the union contributed a number of innovations to the art of social protest, including the most successful consumer boycott in the history of the United States. Chavez welcomed contributions from numerous ethnic and racial groups, men and women, young and old. For a time, the UFW was the realization of Martin Luther King Jr.’s beloved community—people from different backgrounds coming together to create a socially just world. During the 1970s, Chavez struggled to maintain the momentum created by the boycott as the state of California became more involved in adjudicating labor disputes under the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA). Although Chavez and the UFW ultimately failed to establish a permanent, national union, their successes and strategies continue to influence movements for farm worker justice today.

Sufficiency: Single Parenting and Dorothy Day

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Marguerite Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Single Mother ◽  
Single Parents ◽  
Military Spouses ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Single Parenting ◽  
Catholic Worker ◽  
Dorothy Day ◽  
Catholic Worker Movement

Single parenting vastly affects women (divorced, widowed, and military spouses, among others). Single parents are caught between contemporary parenting wars (including welfare reform wars) and the need to be self-sufficient. Single parents suffer from never quite living up to parenting ideals, thereby being utterly un-self-sufficient. Christians, especially, emphasize perfect parenting as a means of discipleship. Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, was a single mother because she decided to baptize her daughter, and become a Christian herself. She discusses the importance of Christian community in parenting, and narrates how, for Christians, family means more than biological ties. Day helps all Christians understand the need to be family for each other and to loosen the stranglehold that sufficiency has on parenting in Christian life.

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