Monitoring, Analyzing and Understanding the Dynamics of Complex Processes: The Case of the Public Debate on Pesticides in The Netherlands

Abstract

This chapter describes the methodology and the outcomes of an analysis of the public debate on pesticide risk reduction in The Netherlands in the period 1995-2008. The objective of the chapter is to get transition management on the research agenda of scientists and professionals in the discipline of informatics. The challenge for this discipline is to design societal Information Systems next to existing agricultural, environmental, and geographic Information Systems. Societal Information Systems could help action researchers and policymakers to better understand and eventually intervene in transition processes in agriculture. Content analysis is the corner stone of the methodology. The analysis revealed the existence of two social systems: the general public focusing on pesticides, and the agricultural community focusing on crop protection. Application of a dramaturgic approach revealed the key moments and the key actors in the debate, and also revealed the discourses of the key actors, respectively challenging and defending the existing institutions.