The Sovereign Poison: Glyphosate, Poisoncraft, and Regulatory Politics

Tom Widger

Univ of California Press, Apr 14, 2026 - Social Science - 262 pages

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Growing concerns over pesticide exposure have fueled calls for stricter regulations. Yet governments—often constrained by the pressures of global markets—frequently fall short of implementing effective controls. The Sovereign Poison explores the failed efforts of both the European Parliament and the Sri Lankan government to ban glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide. Introducing the concept of "poisoncraft," Tom Widger delves into the cultural beliefs and practices surrounding poison that played a key role in these controversies, and traces humanity’s long and complex relationship with toxic substances. Using a wide-angle anthropological lens, this book examines poison in its many forms—as a tool of witchcraft and magic, a language of value and exchange, a discourse of nationalist politics, and a foundational element of the global food system. By illuminating the intersections of science, politics, and regulation with public demands for sovereign control, Widger reveals the deeper cultural logics and power dynamics that underpin the global governance of pesticides.

Contents

• Value and Power in the Noxious and the Good: 21
• The Worlds of European and South Asian Poisoncraft: 36
• Glyphosate and Europes Polycrisis: 57
• Regulatory Review and Sovereign Ignorance: 80
• Science and Solidarity for the 500 Million: 98
• Kidney Disease and the Glyphosate Question: 115
• The Poisoned Isle: 130
• In Search of Compound X: 155
• The Presidents Purificatory Work: 170
• Agribusiness Resistance to the Glyphosate Ban: 187
• The Cauldron of Poisoncraft: 201
• Index: 235

About the author

Tom Widger is Professor of Anthropology at Durham University and author of Suicide in Sri Lanka: The Anthropology of an Epidemic.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Sovereign Poison: Glyphosate, Poisoncraft, and Regulatory Politics
• Author: Tom Widger
• Publisher: Univ of California Press, 2026
• ISBN: 0520972473, 9780520972476
• Length: 262 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / Public Policy / Environmental Policy; Social Science / Agriculture & Food; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social; Social Science / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / Asian Studies