Culture, territories, and confidence in food. An anthropological view on health in the context of environmental pollution and socio-political tension

Anne Bargès (1, 2)

1 CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés
2 UT - Université de Tours

Pollutants in the environment as well as potential risks to human health and health policies are leading to profound changes in the food chain. Whether dietary patterns and medical interventions are accepted, depends on the cultural and territorial anchorage of the populations, their socio-cultural past as well as scientific uncertainty and modalities of objectification of social actors. Controversies, debates, and the media influence governance. Local and minority experiences open up global perspectives. This paper focuses on the necessary contextualization of events at the crossroads of various social sciences. The exposure of fish-eating native people to methylmercury in Canada is used as an example. This publication is linked with first synthetic work on this environmental and sociocultural question, see A.Bargès 1990. Mercury Chronical Health Hazard in Canada (Québec, Ontario) in Natives populations, an anthropological approach, Thesis, Nancy University / INSERM U115 (Dir. Michel Manciaux)

Mots clés: North America; Appropriation sociale; Health Care; Exposition; Ethnosciences; Local knowledges; Mercury in Canada; The ordering of world; Hydric pollution; Science discourses; Natives; Community; Sociology of health; Health governance; Diet transformation; Mercury exposure; Food fears; Public health; Uncertainty; Identity; Community values; Ethnology; Body perceptions; Anthropology; Trust; water pollution

Mots clés: pollution environnementale; anthropologie; relations population; corps; santé publique; alimentation; résistance; incertitude; Marginalisation; enjeux sociaux de la santé publique; Exclusion; processus identitaires; lien social; Communauté; Tterritoires; bénéfice-risque; autochtonie canadienne; mercure; discours scientifique; confiance; Environnement; SHS - Santé; health; Soins

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Sociologie; Etudes de l'environnement; Science politique; Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Alimentation et Nutrition; Environnement et Société; Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Anne Bargès. Culture, territories, and confidence in food. An anthropological view on health in the context of environmental pollution and socio-political tension. Appetite, 2008, 51 (1), pp 30-33. ⟨10.1016/j.appet.2008.02.003⟩. ⟨halshs-00259396⟩