Amidst polarized global debates about genetically modified (GM) crops, much attention has focused on Burkina Faso, where farmers grew Bt cotton from 2008 to 2015 in the first widespread commercial adoption of GM crops by smallholder African farmers. This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork and 125 interviews to analyse the debate accompanying this adoption, contending that both sides employed stock agrarian imaginaries that essentialized rural people. These competing imaginaries—romantic versus modern—reproduced polarized global narratives about GM crops and peasants, while misrepresenting or overlooking the inequalities and constraints shaping rural communities and the specifics of Bt cotton production. Both sides sought to claim the legitimacy and authenticity that comes from representing ‘the peasants’, yet ironically flattened the complexity of rural experiences. This paper demonstrates how each side's adherence to agrarian imaginaries served to produce erroneous knowledge claims. This adherence resulted in part from local resource constraints and dependence on external actors, which produced pressure to conform to polarized global GMO scripts. The paper concludes that GMO debate participants and observers must eschew essentializing imaginaries if they seek to produce more accurate knowledge about farmers' varied experiences with GM crops.

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转基因生物辩论中的农民本质主义：布基纳法索的转基因棉花

在围绕转基因作物的全球辩论中，人们对布基纳法索的关注度很高，布基纳法索的农民在2008年至2015年间种植了Bt棉花，这是非洲小农首次广泛商业化使用转基因作物。本文利用人种志田野调查和125次采访来分析这种收养方式所引起的争论，认为双方都采用了使农村人口至关重要的农业耕种假想。这些相互竞争的假想（浪漫与现代）再现了关于转基因作物和农民的两极化全球性叙述，同时歪曲或忽视了塑造农村社区和Bt棉花生产细节的不平等和制约因素。双方都试图主张代表“农民”的合法性和真实性，但具有讽刺意味的是，这使农村经历的复杂性变得平淡。本文展示了双方对农业假想的坚持如何产生错误的知识主张。这种坚持的部分原因是当地资源的限制和对外部参与者的依赖，这产生了促使人们遵循两极化的全球GMO脚本的压力。该论文的结论是，转基因生物的辩论参与者和观察者如果想获得关于农民​​对转基因作物的不同经历的更准确的知识，就必须避免假想。这产生了促使人们遵循两极化的全球GMO脚本的压力。该论文的结论是，转基因生物的辩论参与者和观察者如果想对农民的转基因作物的不同经历寻求更准确的认识，就必须避免使假想成为现实。这产生了促使人们遵循两极化的全球GMO脚本的压力。该论文的结论是，转基因生物的辩论参与者和观察者如果想对农民的转基因作物的不同经历寻求更准确的认识，就必须避免使假想成为现实。