=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1696/paper3
|storemode=property
|title=Distrusting Science on Communication Platforms: Socio-anthropological Aspects of the Science-Society Dialectic within a Phytosanitary Emergency
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1696/paper3.pdf
|volume=Vol-1696
|authors=Christian Colella
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/lrec/Colella16
}}
==Distrusting Science on Communication Platforms: Socio-anthropological Aspects of the Science-Society Dialectic within a Phytosanitary Emergency==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1696/paper3.pdf
Distrusting Science on Communication Platforms: Socio-anthropological
Aspects of the Science-Society Dialectic within a Phytosanitary Emergency
Christian Colella
christian.colella@edu.unito.it
Abstract for the death of some olive trees has been particularly
hated by the public opinion.
The work aims to investigate the conspiracy-like and The phenomenon started to appear in the hinterland of
pseudo-scientific beliefs arose in Salento during a Gallipoli, the western part of the Salento peninsula,
spread of a plant disease that affected olive tree crops during the late 2008. Since then, outbreaks of this
known as "OQDS" and, more generally, tries to highly virulent plant disease were reported on several
analyze through a socio-anthropological perspective olive trees in the Salento aggravated by the particular
the communication biases into the dialectical mild climatic conditions of the winter 2013-2014.
relationship between scientific research and general From then on, scientific research did anything possible
public and how social media platforms act like a to tackle the spread of this plague, but the scientific
conceptual container for pseudo-scientific belief and process, like other human matters, is not instant and
distrust sentiments toward science research. straightaway as it takes time.
The sudden awareness of the perceived disaster,
Keywords: Pseudo-science, Conspiracy Theory, together with the widespread belief that it was all a
Cultural Identity, Cultural Analysis of Social Media, staged sham concocted by unknown and high powers,
Social Media as Social Sensor allowed this discourse on the phenomenon to find a
privileged place on social media platforms, causing
1. Introduction conspiracy-like and pseudo-scientific distortion of the
actual reality of the situation, with consequences that
This case study takes place in Salento, a peninsula impacted even outside of the social media informative
located in the south-east part of Italy. This region is sphere.
crowded with 20,000,000 olive trees. More than 60%
of this "peninsula inside a peninsula" is covered by 2. OQDS and Online Social Networks
these ancient fruit trees, like sculptures that time and
nature have forged during the centuries. The mistrust and the general suspicion toward
As often happens, some ecological elements belonging scientific research institutions linked to the diffusion of
to the domain of nature are charged with deep cultural this plant disease reached its peak in March 2015 when
and symbolic meanings. That is the case of the olive Sabina Guzzanti, an Italian satirical comedian wrote on
tree in Salento. her Facebook page about the “strange correlation” in
In this ecological and semantic context, the olive tree is the explanation of this plant disease (Fig.1).
not just a plant and it is not just an important source of The famous television personality, in her post, argued
revenue in the center of the traditional food production that “Xylella Fastidiosa” was nothing more than a
of the region. Here, olive tree crops are also a part of clever fabrication, beginning to connect various causes
the human-made panorama, a useful compass to that could have been behind the spread of the “fake”
navigate into the aesthetic landscape, a statement of pathogen. She immediately refers to the American
cultural identity and cultural integrity. multinational agro-chemical and agricultural
It is not surprising that the reactions following the biotechnology corporation Monsanto as the main
decision to eradicate the infected trees as necessary and culprit.
functional solution to halt the spread of the bacterium Her belief is that the bacterium “Xylella fastidiosa” has
“Xylella Fastidiosa” believed to be the cause of the been created in a laboratory by the same American
olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS) and responsible company with the aim of selling insecticides and, as a
last resort, to sell GMOs olive trees immune to the transformed the meaning of representation taking it
bacterium. from a mere geographical belonging to a more
The post suggest that the actual name of the pathogen comprehensive, pervasive and masterfully defined
“Xylella” was actually the anagram of “Allelyx”, a cultural identity. An additional factor to be considered
Brazilian multinational belonging to Monsanto guilty is that this reinvention and revival of local cultural
of having created the bacterium in laboratory, all with peculiarities have become over the years an integral
the blessing and cooperation of the Italian and part of the tourist targeting. The Salento peninsula
Salentinian scientific research institutes. "touristic package" in fact provides for the
This dystopian-sci-fi-like scenario evoked in the before simultaneous presence of elements of cultural
mentioned Facebook post, is considered to be a crucial authenticities (such as the "Tarantism" folklore
starting point for analyzing how the pseudo-scientific phenomenon and the "Pizzica" folk dance) (Pizza,
and anti-scientific beliefs started and became 2015), along with natural-ecological authenticities
widespread in Salento. (such as olive trees). In such romantically portrayed
idea of wholeness of nature and culture, as closely
related to one another, the perceived danger of losing
the most significant representing symbolic element, the
olive tree, in a land full of identity exaltation tied to the
idea of unspoiled nature, is obviously seen as a disaster
of epic proportions. In addition, recent revisionist drifts
about the historical process of "Risorgimento", the
Italian political unification process, have brought
forward an idea of a supposed hidden quasi-
enslavement project carried out by the neo-industrial
northern region against the still rural south.
It seems superfluous to mention that such ideas have
also gained popularity in some local socio-cultural
circles that meet on social media platforms,
transmitting and instilling an idea of the bacterium
Xylella Fastidiosa as a biological weapon of economic
domination.
The second aspect to be considered in the public
misunderstanding of the role, as well as the aims of
Fig. 1 Sabina Guzzanti’s Facebook Post.
scientific research in the case of olive quick decline
syndrome in Salento, is the unique social media
With almost twenty thousand “likes” and more than behavior of “local” conspiracy theorist and their
fifty-five thousand shares, the idea of a malevolent pseudo-scientific approach observed. The same social
intention ahead of the diffusion of this plant pathology subjects that showed more distrust and suspicions
spreads among Facebook users and, at a local level, it regarding the causes of this plant pathology are usually
resulted in a general suspicion towards the work of pseudoscientific and conspiracy-like Facebook pages
scientific institutions engaged in the study of the and groups members. Themes like the preservation of
bacterium and the grounds of olive tree desiccation. the authenticity of nature from the presumed dangers
This malicious association and suspicion became of modern biotechnologies are central to this view and,
established due to the presence of two different plains in this case, the threatening scientific work as the
of discourse concerning the particular socio- executive arm of corporations and a higher political
anthropological context of Salento and the peculiarities power.
of the social medium in which these discourses take During the research we noticed that the users engaged
place. in the debate about the causes of olive tree decline
The first one is the mythologizing exaltation of local syndrome tent also to be, through their Facebook
identity within the peculiarity of the local cultural activity, leaned towards other pseudoscientific and
heritage and its public narratives. The rural origins in conspiracy-like themes, for example the skepticism
the identity-making discourse in this region is a very about GMOs, climate change denialism, “chemtrails
important matter. An idea carried out mainly by local conspiracy” up to the “Illuminati conspiracy”.
music performer and cultural media (which find a The particular behavior on social media platforms like
privileged place on the most popular social media Facebook of these subjects, prone to a brisk production
platforms) which have over time idealized and of useful material to analyze from a socio-
anthropological point of view, makes in some way
easier the difficult and prolonged action of collecting In this particular view, the concept of discovery itself,
human data through a face to face ethnographic inherently social (Merton, 1957) is something to be
fieldwork. frightened of.
Their activity is all-encompassing, commenting on the Both the glorification of cultural heritage end cultural
news and the latest developments on the identity discourse and the pseudoscientific and
Xylella/OQDS case arguing explanations perfectly conspiracy argumentative logic and social behavior,
suited to their conspiracy theorist habitus (Bourdieu, find their respective and privileged place on social
1979); accusing the scientific field of inherent media platforms.
evaluation errors, putting the discourse on a “clash” This idiosyncratic theme of a plant disease that has
level with two different modus operandi, a clash struck a crucial identity and identifying natural
between two different knowledge. “Our” science, element, along with the presence of the agency of
validated by time and culture, against “Their” science, scientific research, has allowed these two conceptual
fueled by the lust for power, in a strictly dichotomous universes to come together in a common cause.
semantic frame. (fig.2) Their effective presence, pervasiveness and
In their particular views, the work of scientific hyperactivity on social platforms like Facebook has
institutions on OQDS is inevitably compromised by meant that the case itself reached a large audience
the corrupt nature of the scientists, who are seen as causing an incontrollable exaggeration of the real
servants of political and economic power, directly issue. Soon people start to think of an inevitable and
accusing individual scientists even on a personal level, unstoppable environmental disaster of enormous
not as a category then, but also as individuals. As proportions when, in reality of data, the abatement plan
Fredric Jameson has argued, the association science- with the aim to contain the bacteria causing the OQDS
corporate power made by conspiracy theorists is the touched only a 0,09% of the total olive tree population.
"poor person's" cognitive mapping in the postmodern The “attack on the forest" portrayed by these social
age, it is the degraded figures of the total logic of late groups was apparently unfounded.
capital. (Jameson, 1990). The instances and fears of these groups, gathered on
social media, reached escalated levels when the issue
was addressed by mainstream media and particularly,
when a popular Infotainment television show in Italy
well known for its distinctive media populism and
audience-making sensationalism, endorsed an idea of a
compromised, if not powerless and ultimately
ineffective, science research process, instilling in the
broad general public the belief of a scientific
underestimation error at the expense of the local
farmers and land owners.
The last, and perhaps the most paradoxical implication
of the public negative opinion toward the scientific and
institutional efforts deployed in the “Xylella
emergency” took place on a judicial level, when the
regional administrative court (TAR) accepted the legal
recourse brought by environmental groups (as an
almost “natural” conclusion of this “gish gallop”) on
the supposed origins of the spreading of this plant
disease. Their allegation, upheld by a local judge, bring
us back to an event that took place in Bari during
October 2010, when the Mediterranean Agronomic
Institute (IAM) along with the National Research
Fig. 2 “These ‘scientist’ talk about Xylella epidemic in Council (CNR) held a workshop entitled
Salento without ever presenting evidence!” “They “Phytosanitary Workshop on the Quarantine Pathogen
condemned to death our olive trees WITHOUT Xylella fastidiosa” as part of the research activities and
EVIDENCE! This is war!” Image taken from “Terroni cooperation of the action program "EU-COST 873
di Pino Aprile” Facebook page. project Bacterial Diseases of stone fruit and nuts”, a
short course on the most advanced methods for the
diagnosis of quarantine pathogen Xylella fastidiosa.
The allegations proposed by these social media- The central issue addressed here is that, through a
coordinated environmental groups and supported by socio-anthropological lens, a lot can be understood
the court, accused the entire local scientific research about the single individual just observing his/her
apparatus of intentionally spreading the bacterium, Facebook activity.
leading a biological warfare and having created the Referring to the “naturalistic observation method”, a
harmful bacteria with the pernicious complicity of study method that involves watching subjects’
Monsanto. As stated earlier in this paper, a convincing behaviors in their natural environment, without
sci-fi-like dystopian scenario. intervention (Adler & Adler, 1994), and taking as a
Up to this point we have tried to describe the subjects “natural environment” (and therefore as a field)
involved in the case of OQDS/Xylella Fastidiosa Facebook social network, We interpreted the social
public reactions, how these reactions that bordered media platform as a “public realm” (Goffman, 1971).
collective paranoia started on and found a privileged But Facebook is a public and available space up to a
place on social media platforms, and how the medium certain point and, more significantly, neither is an
of Facebook magnified the issue even bringing it on aseptic and neutral social space.
the judges’ desks unlashing a collective phobia on On Facebook (as well as other platforms and services
scientific research aims and methods. like Google's personalized search, Amazon's "you may
At this point, we would like to proceed with the also like", and other examples) an algorithm selectively
description and explanation of the peculiar qualitative guesses what information a user would like to see
methodology used in this work in progress. based on information about the user (such as location,
past click behavior and search history), as a result, the
3. Methodology users become separated from those informations that
disagrees with their viewpoints, effectively isolating
The majority of qualitative research carried out in them in their own cultural or ideological bubbles
this work consisted in the usual methods of (Pariser, 2011).
investigation belonging to the demographical, Having taken into account these methodological
sociological and anthropological disciplines, precautions, in order to engage entirely into the social
proceeding with a (physical) fieldwork lasted about bubble where this kind of cultural discourse is
five months, during which we attended public events, produced and diffused and given the distinct nature of
public demonstrations and conferences held by the the pseudoscientific and conspiracy individual
protagonist of this “resistance” and proceeding with behavior, we proceeded with interweaving a network
ethnographic interviews with several individual of Facebook contacts with these subjects by creating a
components. fake account with the same “Anthropopoietic
But, for what concerns the focus of this paper, we tried characteristics”, we created our own new informative
to perform a methodological shifting of the very bubble, because, and that is the reason why we adopt
physical nature of the anthropological notion of this method, a netnography from the "ouside" would
“field”. not have been possible.
Social media platforms behave as actual, tangible Furthermore, with the process of “hiding” the
containers of cultures, or better, cultural expression of researcher’s anthropoietic characteristic, we proceed
each one's self. The “anthropopoiesis” process (From with what we could define as “covert participant
ancient Greek Ánthrōpos, “man”; and Poïesis, “to observation” (Delamont, 2004; Humphreys, 1975),
make”) (Herder, 1968; Geertz, 1964; Remotti 2013) as creating not only a new Facebook identity, but
the self-building practice of social and individual providing to Facebook algorithm new directives,
cultural identity, is in some ways, clearly revealed by allowing our brand new filter bubble (Pariser, 2011) to
the showcase of our Facebook profiles, at least see us as “conspiracy theorist”.
depending to what we want to show, or better, This allowed us to fully enter in this particular “echo
depending on what we plan to show. chamber” (Quattrociocchi et al., 2015) observing and
On social media platforms, our cultural identities are occasionally interacting with these same social subjects
forged constantly and meticulously through a regular from an unusual and privileged position.
and astonishingly easy work, our constructive nature
and disposition made explicit by the simple act of
clicking on a like button. A "like" that defines us and
gives "the other" a socially delineated image of
ourselves.
4. Conclusions Conference on World Wide Web - WWW '15
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