In the 1960s, the use of dangerous pesticides became a matter of contention. We explore the impact of this criticism on pest control campaigns in the Global South. To this end, we focus on three insecticides that were used both for global disease control and agriculture development programmes in East and West Africa and South America between 1960 and 1990. We discuss these controversies and negotiation processes of insecticide use in the historical context of two major developments: the formation of the environmental movement and the crisis of development policy and its following transformation.

The primary aim of our research is to understand the history of pesticide use as a history of distinctive regimes of evidence; to explore how knowledge about environment, agriculture and health was produced and modified within these regimes. Using the concept of pesticides as “public technology”, we aim to describe the role of different publics in debating and negotiating pesticide regulations, and explore how they influenced ideas about environmental and health risks.