- Trial lecture starts at: 10.00
- Public defence starts at: 12.00
Title of trial lecture: TBA
Read the thesis in NVA
Disputation chair: Vicedean Gunhild Kvåle
Assessment committee:
- First opponent: Professor David Vail, from the University of Nebraska
- Second opponent: Professor Clare Hickman, from Newcastle university
- Chair of assessment committee: Associate Professor Camilla Mørk Røstvik, from the University of Agder
Supervisors in the doctoral work:
- Main supervisor: Professor Dolly Jørgensen from the University of Stavanger
- Co-supervisor: Professor Libby Robin from the Australian National University
Summary of thesis
Handling Pesticides in Horticulture. Norwegian Horticulturists’ Perception of and Praxis with Chemical Plant Protection Products, 1945–2021.
It has been customary to use chemical plant protection products in conventional Norwegian horticulture since World War II. The foundation for this praxis was established by the end of the 1800s, however it was first in the 1950s that the use of chemical pesticides became systematic and self-evident. Many of these compounds are toxic and harmful to health and environment, something several horticulturists have experienced in different ways themselves. Still, most horticulturists in conventional horticulture have chosen to maintain these products. Their knowledge and experience indicate that without chemical plant protection products their losses of crops and cultivars would be to such an extent that production would not be economically feasible.
It has been a goal in this project to understand more about the experiences horticulturists have had with chemical plant protection in this period, but also the complexities of the development of which they have been a part. Drawing on perspectives from environmental history, sensory studies, and history of science- and technology, this dissertation explores horticulturists’ perception of and praxis with chemical plant protection products, guided by the research question: How did Norwegian horticulturalists perceive of and use pesticides between 1945 and 2021? This was explored further through three sub-questions in the set of articles produced for this dissertation. These are: In what ways might the ‘everyday nature’ of a plant protection product make growers ambivalent about the risks associated with the chemical? What do horticulturists’ accounts reveal about embodied experiences with pesticides? How did pesticide technology affect the interaction between growers, plants, and insects?
These questions are explored through a qualitative multi-methodical study. Through the historicization of horticulturists’ accounts about their own embodied experiences with chemical plant protection products, this dissertation documents a longstanding and multifaceted ambivalence about pesticides in Norwegian horticulture. Different contemporary contexts and issues have affected perceptions and practices, including evolving awareness of health and environment, institutionalizing knowledge dissemination, and strict regulations. Individual embodied experiences have long been a vital source of pesticide knowledge. However, this type of knowledge has often been undervalued in comparison to theoretical knowledge. This dissertation demonstrates that it is often these kinds of embodied experiences and the active use of people’s senses that have guided and modified their praxis and kept people from being injured when handling chemicals. This study shows how pesticide technology changed horticulture, horticulturists, and their interactions with surrounding ecosystems
The dissertation consists of three articles and an introductory chapter.
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Opponent ex auditorio:
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