Sensitive agendas in agriculture

An interpretation of contemporary perceptions among young Argentine youth

Abstract

This work summarizes the results of three empirical studies on the contemporary perception of urban Argentine youth regarding agriculture. The findings reveal a series of coherent and interconnected emerging trends that can be identified as new sensitive agendas. Comparisons with other historical moments and contexts fall outside the scope of this study. 

There is a discursive and conceptual tension between Argentine ​​agricultural​​ production and its social license to operate in the country, that is, the degree of community acceptance of its practices and procedures, and ​the​​ ​emergence of new paradigms and beliefs reflected in agendas related to: (1) the environment, (2) animal care, (3) food and (4) the digital world. The objective of this text is to offer a theoretical hypothesis that helps to unde​r​stand these agendas and the context in which they are developed and inserted.  

These recurring themes in the research, which also connect with global agendas, challenge the current productive process of agriculture. They emerge within a young public that perceives agriculture and agroindustry as important economic actors, fundamental for Argentina and part of ​​its​​ historical and national identity, while simultaneously viewing them as insufficiently concerned with environmental stewardship, revealing a tension between identity and negative perception. 

An attempt will be made to understand this tension through concepts such as relevance theory, cultural epidemiology and position theory, all framed within an intersubjective communication paradigm.