Social stigmatization of pig farmers: Medical perspectives on modern pig farming

Abstract

This chapter studies the effect of out-spoken critics of Danish pig production on social stigmatization of people in the pig industry, including pig farmers and their families. In Denmark, as well as in most other western countries, the emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has caused a lot of criticism of contemporary pig producers and their perceived neglect of public health. Based on qualitative interviews with pig farmers and scientific experts and stakeholders, this chapter describes how expert knowledge about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) proliferates into sometimes very sceptical public opinions and how those opinions are experienced as stigmatization by the pig farmers and their families.