The construction of the networks that dispute the regulation of pesticides in Brazil: the PL 6299 versus the National Policy for Reducing the Use of Pesticides (PNaRa)

Abstract:

In recent years, the debate around pesticides in Brazil has intensified. On the one hand, there is the network linked to agribusiness and, on the other, different organizations concerned with food security and public health. The article aims to understand how the relationships between the actors in each of these networks and between them are structured, describing these structures, and identifying their characteristics and forms of action. Documentary analysis of laws and decrees, newspaper articles and websites were used to trace the narratives and trajectories of actors in relation to these policies and to each other. The results show that the agribusiness network a stable, well-integrated and structured political community. The opposing network is heterogeneous in terms of interests and members and is more fragile and less stable. Nonetheless, its agenda has the support of public opinion.

Key-words: pesticides; public policies; social networks; agroecology; agribusiness