Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Politics and International Relations

Reader 1

Vanessa Tyson

Reader 2

Thomas Kim

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

Ventura County, California, is a major center of pesticide-intensive agriculture, heavily dependent on Latinx immigrant labor, including many undocumented workers. This thesis examines how post-2020 regulatory changes, such as the ban on chlorpyrifos and updates to the Farmworker Protection Rule, intersect with local political and economic structures, shaping the distribution of environmental risks. Despite reforms, agribusiness lobbying and entrenched institutional practices continue to prioritize production and profits over the safety and well-being of farmworker communities. Grassroots organizations, including the United Farm Workers, CAPS-805, and MICOP, play a central role in advocating for protections, amplifying marginalized voices, and challenging systemic inequities. By analyzing the political, regulatory, and social dynamics of Ventura County’s agricultural system, this study highlights how environmental injustice is produced and maintained. It further emphasizes the importance of community-led strategies in reshaping power, policy, and accountability in the state’s agribusiness sector.

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