Agriculteurs et salariés agricoles mis en (in)capacité dans le débat sur les pesticides

The effects of the use of agricultural pesticides on health are increasingly denounced in France, through campaigns led by environmental associations, residents, consumers and local elected representatives. Public debate on the subject has intensified since 2016 as a result of intense media coverage. However, the voices of farmers, and even more so those of employees, are barely heard. A qualitative study carried out in Gironde (France) examines this paradox: how explain the absence of agricultural workers, particularly salaried employees, from the public debate on pesticides when it has been proven that they are overexposed? Using the capabilities approach, this article analyses and identifies the structural and situational processes that produce this almost complete absence of participation. In order to gain a better understanding of what is at stake in public discussions on pesticides, the study has looked in particular at what they say when they are working. It reveals inequalities between vine-growers and employees on permanent contracts on the one hand, and employees on fixed-term contracts and seasonal workers on the other. Moreover, it shows that these inequalities are more complex than a simple employer/employee divide, because they operate within the same status, particularly that of seasonal worker.