School of Humanities and Social Sciences, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 3;17(21):8119. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218119.
Dependence on chemical pesticides has become one of the most pressing challenges to global environmental sustainability and public health. Considerable regulatory efforts have been taken to mitigate pesticide dependence, which however has resulted in a prevalent 'managerial failure'. Massive pesticide application has generated severe genetic resistance from pests, which has in turn further aggravated pesticide dependence and thus induced agrochemical industries to develop new pesticide varieties. This review proposes to look beyond the resistance-dependence nexus and presents a comprehensive discussion about global pesticide dependence in a social science perspective, i.e., revealing the socio-economic and political factors that reinforce pesticide dependence. These factors are classified into five intertwined themes: (1) agricultural regime, (2) social process of pesticide application, (3) economic analysis, (4) politics and governance, and (5) promotional failure of alternatives. It is found that pesticide dependence is not just a technological issue in the sphere of natural sciences, but more a human-made issue, with deep-seated socio-economic and political reasons. Addressing contemporary trap of global pesticide dependence entails a full acknowledgement and comprehension of the complex and intertwined factors. Furthermore, this review identifies two major explanatory approaches underlying the extant social science literature: a structuralist approach that stresses macro-level structures such as institutions, policies and paradigms, and an individualist approach that focuses on the decision-making of farmers at the micro level. This review recognizes the limitations of the two approaches and calls for transcending the duality. This study advocates a policy framework that emphasizes alignment and coordination from multi-dimensions, multi-actors and multi-scales. For future research, collaborations between natural and social scientists, and more integrated and interdisciplinary approaches should be strengthened.
对化学农药的依赖已成为全球环境可持续性和公共卫生面临的最紧迫挑战之一。为了减轻对农药的依赖，已经做出了相当大的监管努力，但这导致了普遍的“管理失败”。大量农药的使用使害虫产生了严重的遗传抗性，这反过来又进一步加剧了对农药的依赖，从而促使农用化学品行业开发新的农药品种。本综述建议超越抗药性-依赖性关系，从社会科学的角度全面讨论全球农药依赖问题，即揭示强化农药依赖的社会经济和政治因素。这些因素分为五个相互交织的主题：（1）农业制度，（2）农药使用的社会过程，（3）经济分析，（4）政治和治理，（5）替代品的推广失败。研究发现，农药依赖不仅仅是自然科学领域的技术问题，更是人为问题，具有深层次的社会经济和政治原因。解决全球农药依赖的当代困境需要充分认识和理解复杂和相互交织的因素。此外，本综述确定了现有社会科学文献中两种主要的解释方法：一种是强调机构、政策和范式等宏观层面结构的结构主义方法，另一种是关注微观层面农民决策的个体主义方法。本综述认识到这两种方法的局限性，并呼吁超越二元论。本研究主张一个政策框架，强调从多维度、多行为体和多尺度进行协调和配合。未来的研究应加强自然科学和社会科学之间的合作，并采取更加综合和跨学科的方法。
