“DEADLY CUCUMBERS” IN EUROPE AND IN SERBIA: AN EXAMPLE OF (NON)CONSTRUCTED SOCIAL PROBLEM

Abstract

In the framework of the theory of social problems construction this paper deals with the phenomenon which upset the European, as well as the domestic public during the past 2011. The paper follows the events between May 23rd that is, since the first alarm created by the initial outbreak of the deadly Escherichia Coli that has caused the death of about 50 people in Germany and June 10th when the original source of the epidemic was discovered, as well as the period a few months after the primary problem was solved. In the first panic wave imported cucumbers that were produced in Spain were misidentified as the chief carrier of infection which, along with the fear of a fatal disease, initiated a whole controversy over finding the culprit, as well as other consequences. Through the analysis of the phenomenon and in accordance with H. Blumer’s methodological procedure which follows five basic stages in the process of collective definition, with reference to the works of other authors dealing with the said problem and based on German, European and domestic media, the paper aims to establish the nature of the said problem and to present its different aspects and further transformations. This paper follows the evolution of the situation by observing, in comparison, the development of events in Europe, closer to the centre of the epidemic and the situation in Serbia, that is, the effect that the information coming from Europe had in Serbia. In this way we will observe different elements that constitute a social problem, a problem which also contains elements of mass panic and the opportunities that present themselves in further development of the situation.