Social risk perception and gender dynamics in pesticide-based agricultural production in the Argentine pampas

Abstract

This paper analyzes the connections between gender identities and the logics surrounding the social organization of care related to the environmental and health risks that stem from meanings and practices of pesticide-based agricultural production in the Argentine Pampas. After conducting two long-reach ethnographic field-work, we explore the process of women’s identifying and denouncing of pesticides related risks and its relationship both with the social construction of femininities and with the gendered organization of care. Furthermore, we study a possible link between the exposure to pesticides and a strategy of reaffirmation of virility.