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‘We don't know much about Bees!’ Techno‐Optimism, Techno‐Scepticism, and Denial in the American large‐scale Beekeeping Industry
Author(s) -
Cilia Laurent
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/soru.12280
Subject(s) - denial , context (archaeology) , scale (ratio) , skepticism , technoscience , livelihood , agency (philosophy) , optimism , sociology , agriculture , environmental ethics , social science , epistemology , ecology , psychology , geography , biology , philosophy , cartography , psychoanalysis , archaeology
This article examines how U.S large‐scale beekeepers explain and resolve the plight of the honey bee. Using in‐depth interviews with beekeepers and scientists, field notes, and qualitative online data, I find that while beekeepers invest in and hope for technoscientific developments, they are also sceptical of the promises of technoscience. I describe this paradox as a form of denial. As both agents and victims (with their bees) of industrial agriculture, they turn doubtfully to technoscience, which saves them from deconstructing and reconsidering the system they are an integral part of and benefit from. While technoscientific promises keep beekeepers hopeful and provide them with a sense of agency, they also prevent them from challenging the larger sociocultural mode of food production at the root cause of the plight of managed honey bees. In their attempt to save their bees and their livelihoods, beekeepers’ conversations are performed to fit the dominant technoscientific imaginary and fail to seriously consider causes and solutions in the larger eco‐social context.