Coordinated by: University of Barcelona – Funded by: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
Call for proposals: General Knowledge Program. State Program for Research and Experimental Development, of the State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2024-2027 – Code: PID2024-155523NB-I00 – Period: September 2025-September 2029 – Principal Investigator: Cristina Larrea Killinger, University of Barcelona
Political Ecology of Health
THE CHEMICAL COLONISATION OF PESTICIDES AS A CREATOR OF TOXIC BODIES AND TERRITORIES
This research critically analyses the expansion of pesticide use in Brazil as an effect of North–South dependency relations, particularly with the European Union. From an anthropological and gender-based perspective, this study brings together the political ecology of health and sociocultural epidemiology to examine how the increase in exposure to pesticides endangers people’s health and the development of sustainable food systems.
This project takes as its starting point North–South power relations through the implementation of European policies on the production and marketing of pesticides in countries dependent on these inputs for the development of intensive agriculture. Brazil is among the main importers of pesticides banned in the European Union, which highlights dynamics of chemical colonialism that reproduce structural North–South dependency.
The central objective is to analyse how this colonialism materialises at the local level, exploring the impacts of such exposure on the daily lives, health and diets of smallholder farmers. As these effects are unevenly distributed, attention will be paid to how they occur within quilombola communities, peasant communities and socially vulnerable groups.
It is expected that the results of this study will not only broaden and democratise the circulation of knowledge, but also highlight the epistemological and political asymmetries that underpin the use of agrochemicals in North–South relations. Likewise, they will contribute to the development of monitoring and awareness-raising tools capable of adapting more effectively to local realities, with the aim of promoting substantive changes in the detection of environmental and health risks, and of fostering healthier and more sustainable food practices.
Research/Work Team
Miguel Company Morales, Servicio Andaluz de la Salud
Perfil institucional investigador | Researchgate | ORCID
María del Pilar Serrano Gallardo, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
María Constantina Caputo, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brasil
Perfil institucional investigador | ORCID
Ruth Echeverría Orellana, Hospital 12 de Octubre
Responsable de investigación, Servicio de Cardiología Hospital U. 12 de Octubre | Investigadora doctora, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria i+12 | ORCID
Agroecological production of Gerdson, Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brazil, 2025
Fieldwork
The methodology is qualitative and interdisciplinary. Through an ethnographic study in the semi-arid region of Bahia and with interviews and focus groups with government technicians, representatives from the third sector, producers, and activists in various regions of Spain, the research seeks to contribute scientific knowledge that is committed to society in order to raise social awareness, mitigate risks, inform policies aimed at the agroecological transition, and promote healthy and sustainable food systems.
Agroecological market, Miguel Calmón, Bahia, BRASIL
Seminars, discussions and conferences
2026
1-3/07/2026 | Congreso. III Congreso Internacional de antropología feminista. Generar saberes desde el compromiso social. Simposio S1: Género, alimentación y ecologías corporales: perspectivas feministas sobre salud y sostenibilidad. Coordinado por Mabel Gracia (URV) y Cristina Larrea-Killinger. Organizado por la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Tarragona, 1-3/07/2026.
1-3/07/2026 | Congreso. III Congreso Internacional de antropología feminista. Generar saberes desde el compromiso social. Comunicación oral de Cristina Larrea-Killinger: “Plantar orgánico es una terapia”: produciendo alimentos orgánicos y cuidando de la salud entre las agricultoras familiares de un municipio del semiárido bahiano, Brasil, en el Simposio S1: Género, alimentación y ecologías corporales: perspectivas feministas sobre salud y sostenibilidad. Coordinado por Mabel Gracia (URV) y Cristina Larrea-Killinger. Organizado por la Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Tarragona, 1-3/07/2026.
8-9/05/2026 | Seminario. Seminario sobre Etnografía Vegetal. Participación de Cristina Larrea-Killinger. Organizado por la Red Ibérica de Antropología Ambiental, Sevilla, 8-9/05/2026.
2025
2-5/09/2025. | Congreso. XVII Congreso Internacional de ASAEE. Antropologías comprometidas. Comunicación oral: “Etnografía comprometida con la salud de los agricultores familiares en un municipio del semiárido bahiano, Brasil” (Presenta: Cristina Larrea-Killinger), Simposium 23: Antropologías médicas y de la salud: compromisos, implicaciones y activismos. Coordinado por Elisa Alegre (URV), Cristina Larrea-Killinger (UB), Francisco Ortega (URV) y Maribel Blázquez (UCM). Organizado por la Asociación Canaria de Antropología. San Cristóbal de la Laguna, 2-5/09/2025.
2-5/09/2025 | Congreso. XVII Congreso Internacional de ASAEE. Antropologías comprometidas. Coordinación simposio: Simposium 23: Antropologías médicas y de la salud: compromisos, implicaciones y activismos. Coordinado por Elisa Alegre (URV), Cristina Larrea-Killinger (UB), Francisco Ortega (URV) y Maribel Blázquez (UCM). Organizado por la Asociación Canaria de Antropología. San Cristóbal de la Laguna, 2-5/09/2025.
Publications
2026
2025
- SANTOS, A.C.; LARREA-KILLINGER, C.; MARQUEZ, R. (org.). (2025) Direitos humanos. Conexoes entre Acceso à Justiça e Antropologia Jurídica. Alagoas: FAPTO, UFT, Prestaçao Jurisdicional e Direitos Humanos. ISBN: 978-858413646-9.
- LARREA-KILLLINGER, C. (2025) “Como o colonialismo químico produz corpos tóxicos: a persistência dos agrotóxicos e dos riscos em saúde no Brasil e na Espanha”, en SANTOS, A.C.; LARREA-KILLINGER, C.; MARQUEZ, R. (org.). (2025) Direitos humanos. Conexoes entre Acceso à Justiça e Antropologia Jurídica. Alagoas: FAPTO, UFT, Prestaçao Jurisdicional e Direitos Humanos. ISBN: 978-858413646-9.
Acknowledgments
ASSOCIAÇAO COMUNITÁRIA DE OLHOS D’AGUA, Miguel Calmon
COFASPI.– Cooperativa de Trabalho e Assistência à Agricultura Familiar Sustentável do Piemonte, Bahia, Brasil
COMACOR.- Conselho Municipal de Apoio Comunitário Rural de Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brasil
PREFEITURA DO MUNICÍPIO DE MIGUEL CALMON, Bahia, Brasil
SINDICATO DE TRABALHADORAS RURAIS, AGRICULTORES E AGRICULTORAS FAMILIARES DE MIGUEL CALMON, Bahia, Brasil
More information of interest
Cristina Larrea-Killinger
Principal Investigator
Full Professor. Department of Social Anthropology. University of Barcelona.
Information and contact:
larrea@ub.edu | pr.ecopolsa@ub.edu
(+34) 934 037 755
