Chemical colonialism is a concept formulated by Brazilian geographer Larissa Bombardi to denounce how countries in the Global North produce, export, and impose the use of hazardous chemicals, such as pesticides, agrotoxins, and fertilisers, on countries in the Global South.

A concrete example is paraquat, a highly dangerous chemical herbicide that, until its ban in the European Union, was widely used in agriculture to kill weeds. Considered one of the most lethal agrotoxins due to its toxicity, exposure to this compound causes severe damage to the lungs, kidneys, liver and nervous system.

Produced by the multinational company Syngenta, paraquat was banned in Europe in 2007 and is prohibited in more than 50 countries. Nevertheless, it remains widely used in countries such as Brazil and Paraguay, as well as in several regions of Asia and Latin America. Its ban in Europe does not, therefore, imply a ban on its production and export, a situation that is documented and denounced by Larissa Bombardi in her work, and which has exposed her to intimidation and threats to her physical integrity and her life.

In this talk, the Thematic Section on the Political Economy of Science and Technology of the Portuguese Association of Political Economy, in partnership with ENSSER - European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility - and the Ecology and Society Lab, invites Larissa Bombardi to present her work and history of dissent.

Moderator: Irina Castro (CES)

Bio notes

Larissa Bombardi is a geographer, researcher at the Agroecology Laboratory of the Free University of Brussels (ULB) on the Friction project, and a licensed professor in the Department of Geography at the University of São Paulo - USP.

Larissa has been a specialist in the use of pesticides for 14 years, with dozens of lectures, several published articles and more than 100 interviews on the subject in national (Brazil) and international media.

She is the author of the book “Agrotóxicos e Colonialismo Químico” [Agrotoxins and Chemical Colonialism], released in 2023 in Portuguese and published in French (Pesticides – Um colonialisme Chimique) in 2024.

She is also the author of the atlases: “A Geography of Agrotoxins use in Brazil and its Relations to the European Union",  launched in 2019 in its English edition in Europe (Scotland and Germany) and “Geografia das assimetrias: o círculo vicioso dos agrotóxicos e o colonialismo na relação comercial entre o Mercosul e a União Europeia” [Geography of asymmetries: the vicious circle of agrotoxins and colonialism in the trade relationship between Mercosur and the European Union], launched in 2021 at the European Parliament.

Larissa is a member of the National Forum to Combat the Impact of Pesticides (Brazil), a member of the board of the international organisation “Justice Pesticide” and curator of the International Pesticides Standard Alliance (IPSA).