Social Construction of Health Risk: Rhetorical Elements in Colombian and U.S. News Coverage of Coca Eradication

Abstract

This paper examines rhetorical elements related to the social construction of health risk. More specifically, we analyze how prominent Colombian and U.S. newspapers construct the health risks associated with the use of glyphosate in the “war on drugs” in Colombia. Glyphosate, an herbicide that works as a plant growth regulator, is used heavily via aerial spraying to eradicate Colombian coca cultivation: use mandated by Plan Colombia. These practices have generated wide ranging cultural and sociopolitical disputes among environmental, health, communal, and political organizations. While our focus is on the controversy related to health issues, our analyses necessarily touch on various environmental, community, and political issues.