Tapping into California's Central Valley's Hidden Wealth: Its Rich Cultural Capital

Abstract

An untapped and powerful resource exists in the Central Valley of California: the social capital and cultural richness of its people. The Central Valley is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the United States, yet many of its people remain hidden and relatively untapped as civic participants. Harnessing the hidden energy of the Valley's rich diversity would allow for the development and utilization of the cultural capital emerging from ethnic communities throughout the Central Valley. This cultural capital and knowledge, turned to the socioeconomic advantage of the Valley's diverse communities, can be harnessed in helping increase the political' and economic capital 2 of these marginalized ethnic groups and benefit the entire Central Valley. Generally, as immigrant communities get established, they begin addressing issues that are important to creating better lives for the members of their communities. This has been the migration history of groups adapting to their new host settlement in the United States. These adaptations might include creating equal access to resources, gaining a fuller understanding of their new host society, increasing opportunities for quality education and creating working conditions paying a living wage. This paper examines the rich ethnic diversity of the Central Valley, its ever strengthening cultural and economic capital, and the Valley's potential to harness its cultural and economic capital to create political mobilization within the region. Such political mobilization of the region's communities would allow the communities themselves to work towards resolving their social and economic concerns, and would bring much needed national attention to the region. What follows is an overview of the Valley's ethnic diversity, patterns of immigrant settlement, the ethnic contribution to the Valley's (and California's) agriculture, various barriers to settlement and different strategies that ethnic groups have developed to deal with these barriers. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion of possibilities for political empowerment (increasing political capital) by tapping into the rich vein of cultural capital which currently exists in Valley communities. The initial steps