Representations of pesticides and social practices: the case of French farmers

Abstract

Pesticides and their use in agriculture are important social issues. We conducted research to study the construction of this sensitive social object through the lens of social representations (study of the structural organisation of the social representations of pesticides) and their anchoring in three contexts that differ in terms of farming practices (Martinique, Brittany and Southern France). Our research was composed of two phases: hierarchical associations (n = 213) and a context independence test questionnaire (n = 124), conducted among farmers from the three study sites. The results indicate three representational fields that reflect salient issues in each agricultural territory. These illustrate the heuristic nature of social representations in the analysis of agricultural practices and pesticide use among French farmers.

Producción subjetiva sobre la exposición a agroquímicos. Revisión de la bibliografía científica

“…A total of 12 studies were undertaken in North America, all of which in the United States, while Europe, Asia, and Africa accounted for four, three, and one study, respectively. Study populations varied, but were predominantly actors directly involved in agricultural production at different scales and involving different production models: poor farmers 30 ; family farmer 31 ; farmers [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] ; indigenous communities 44,45 ; and farm workers, where studies investigated the subjective dimensions of exposure to agrochemicals 27,28,[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] . It is interesting to note that the majority of studies involving the latter group were undertaken in North America and involved immigrant farm workers, principally Latin Americans 27,28,46,48,51,52,54,55 .…”

“…With respect to research approach, studies can be classified according to the type of research process used: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed 67 . Studies were primarily qualitative in nature estudios 28,[31][32][33][34][35][36]38,41,[47][48][49][50][51]55,56,60,[63][64][65][66] , followed by quantitative studies 27,30,37,39,40,[42][43][44][45][46]54,57,58 , with mixed methods research accounting for only a small proportion of the total number of studies 29,52,53,59,61,62 . An analysis of the selected articles by country and research approach shows that studies from core countries used predominantly quantitative approaches, while those from periphery countries tended to adopt qualitative research designs.…”

“…Another group of studies addressed beliefs about these chemical substances and human health 28,29,33,34,51,54,55 , using the Health Belief Model to study this field of problems. Some articles studied both beliefs and perceptions 30,33 , while other isolated works investigated social representations 37 , meanings and significations 45,63 , and perceived psychosocial factors 46 linked to exposure to or use of agrochemicals.…”

“…The studies investigating beliefs about agrochemicals show a certain degree of homogeneity, with the majority drawing on the Health Belief Model mentioned above 33,34,51,54,55 . Finally, isolated works used the Cultural Consensus Theory 63 , an ecological framework 48 , and the theory of social representations developed by Serge Moscovici 37 .…”

“…These dimensions refer to the singular aspects of lifestyles, particular collective ways of life and general aspects of economic-production logic 21 . There is a certain degree of parity between the studies that deal solely with the lifestyles of subjects and gr oups [28][29][30]33,34,[39][40][41]45,50,55,57,62,63,66 and those that address one or more aspects of collective ways of life 27,31,32,35,37,[43][44][45][46][51][52][53][54]56,58,59,61 . Those studies that include all three analysis dimensions account for a smaller proportion than the first two 36,38,45,[47][48][49]60,61 .…”