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A new critical social science research agenda on pesticides

Author

Listed:
  • Becky Mansfield

    (Ohio State University)

  • Marion Werner

    (University at Buffalo)

  • Christian Berndt

    (University of Zurich)

  • Annie Shattuck

    (Indiana University-Bloomington)

  • Ryan Galt

    (University of California)

  • Bryan Williams

    (Mississippi State University)

  • Lucía Argüelles

    (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC))

  • Fernando Rafael Barri

    (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)

  • Marcia Ishii

    (Pesticide Action Network North America)

  • Johana Kunin

    (Campus Miguelete - Edificio de Ciencias Sociales)

  • Pablo Lapegna

    (University of Georgia)

  • Adam Romero

    (University of Washington Bothell)

  • Andres Caicedo

    (University of California)

  • Abhigya

    (Indian Institute of Technology)

  • María Soledad Castro-Vargas

    (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

  • Emily Marquez

    (Pesticide Action Network North America)

  • Diana Ojeda

    (Universidad de los Andes)

  • Fernando Ramirez

    (National University of Costa Rica at Heredia)

  • Anne Tittor

    (University of Jena)

Abstract

The global pesticide complex has transformed over the past two decades, but social science research has not kept pace. The rise of an enormous generics sector, shifts in geographies of pesticide production, and dynamics of agrarian change have led to more pesticide use, expanding to farm systems that hitherto used few such inputs. Declining effectiveness due to pesticide resistance and anemic institutional support for non-chemical alternatives also have driven intensification in conventional systems. As an inter-disciplinary network of pesticide scholars, we seek to renew the social science research agenda on pesticides to better understand this suite of contemporary changes. To identify research priorities, challenges, and opportunities, we develop the pesticide complex as a heuristic device to highlight the reciprocal and iterative interactions among agricultural practice, the agrochemical industry, civil society-shaped regulatory actions, and contested knowledge of toxicity. Ultimately, collaborations among social scientists and across the social and biophysical sciences can illuminate recent transformations and their uneven socioecological effects. A reinvigorated critical scholarship that embraces the multifaceted nature of pesticides can identify the social and ecological constraints that drive pesticide use and support alternatives to chemically driven industrial agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Becky Mansfield & Marion Werner & Christian Berndt & Annie Shattuck & Ryan Galt & Bryan Williams & Lucía Argüelles & Fernando Rafael Barri & Marcia Ishii & Johana Kunin & Pablo Lapegna & Adam Romero &, 2024. "A new critical social science research agenda on pesticides," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(2), pages 395-412, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:41:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10492-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-023-10492-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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