Toxic Sensorium

IF 3.1 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Environment and Society-Advances in Research Pub Date : 2021-09-01 DOI:10.3167/ares.2021.120106

S. Stein, Jessie K. Luna

引用次数: 11

Abstract

Pesticides and toxicity are constitutive features of modernization in Africa, despite ongoing portrayals of the continent as “too poor to pollute.” This article examines social science scholarship on agricultural pesticide expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. We recount the rise of agrochemical usage in colonial projects that placed African smallholder farmers at the forefront of toxic vulnerability. We then outline prevalent literature on “knowledge deficits” and unsafe farmer practices as approaches that can downplay deeper structures. Missing in this literature, we argue, are the embodied and sensory experiences of African farmers as they become pesticide users, even amid an awareness of toxicity. Drawing on ethnographic research in Mozambique and Burkina Faso, we explore how the “toxic sensorium” of using agrochemicals intersects with farmers’ projects of modern aspiration. Th is approach can help elucidate why and how differently situated farmers live with pesticides, thereby expanding existing literature on structural violence and knowledge gaps.

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Sensorium有毒

农药和毒性是非洲现代化的组成特征，尽管人们一直将非洲大陆描述为“穷得不能污染”。本文考察了撒哈拉以南非洲农业农药扩张的社会科学学术。我们讲述了殖民项目中农用化学品使用的增加，这些项目将非洲小农户置于有毒脆弱性的最前线。然后，我们概述了关于“知识赤字”和不安全农民做法的流行文献，这些文献可以淡化更深层次的结构。我们认为，这些文献中缺少的是非洲农民成为农药使用者时的具体体验和感官体验，即使他们意识到了毒性。根据莫桑比克和布基纳法索的人种学研究，我们探讨了使用农用化学品的“有毒感官”如何与农民的现代愿望项目交叉。这种方法可以帮助阐明不同处境的农民为什么以及如何使用杀虫剂，从而扩大现有的关于结构性暴力和知识差距的文献。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environment and Society-Advances in Research ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES-

CiteScore

2.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

16 weeks

期刊介绍： Environment and Society: Advances in Research is an annual review journal, publishing articles that have been commissioned in response to specific published calls.The field of research on environment and society is growing rapidly and becoming of ever-greater importance not only in academia but also in policy circles and for the public at large. This growth reflects the urgency of debate and the pace and scale of change with respect to the water crisis, deforestation, biodiversity loss, the looming energy crisis, nascent resource wars, environmental refugees, climate change, and environmental justice, which are just some of the many compelling challenges facing society today and in the future. It also reflects the richness and insights of scholarship exploring diverse cultural forms, social phenomena, and political-economic formations in which society and nature are intricately intertwined, if not indistinguishable. As a forum to address these issues, we are delighted to present an important peer-reviewed annual: Environment and Society: Advances in Research. Through this journal we hope to stimulate advanced research and action on these and other critical issues and encourage international communication and exchange among all relevant disciplines. Environment and Society publishes critical reviews of the latest research literature on environmental studies, including subjects of theoretical, methodological, substantive, and applied significance. Articles also survey the literature regionally and thematically and reflect the work of anthropologists, geographers, environmental scientists, and human ecologists from all parts of the world in order to internationalize the conversations within environmental anthropology, environmental geography, and other environmentally oriented social sciences. The publication will appeal to academic, research, and policy-making audiences alike.