Public Participation in Science and Technology and Social Conflict: The Case of Aerial Spraying with Glyphosate in the Fight Against Drugs in Colombia

Abstract

In October 2015, the government of Colombia suspended aerial spraying with glyphosate as a means of controlling illicit crops in the country. That decision marked the beginning of a new stage in the over 30-year history of aerial spraying in the fight against drugs. This article analyzes the role that science and technology has played in shaping the social conflict generated by the use of glyphosate fumigation and the forms of public participation that subsequently emerged. There are three mechanisms whereby actors have participated in that conflict, each of which involved scientific-technological representation in the dispute: (1) definition of the conflict; (2) establishment of alliances; and (3) performance, or placing the conflict in the spotlight. I propose the term ‘Rashomon effect for science and technology’ to describe the phenomenon characterized by the fact that, in situations of social conflict, science and technology are appropriated by the actors involved in the conflict. This leads to a multiplicity of perspectives depending on the actors’ interests, values, and beliefs and are based on different representations of science. The analysis of these mechanisms reveals an undesired effect in terms of democratic participation: the loss of direct dialogue with the affected communities, including considerations of their social and political perspectives. Instead of helping to establish a basis for better political decision making, scientific and technological representation ends up contributing to the exclusion of the communities directly affected by the spraying from the decision-making process.