A Translation Analysis of the Green Revolution in Bali
Author(s): Thierry Bardini
Source: Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 19, No. 2 (Spring, 1994), pp. 152-168
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A TranslationAnalysisof the
GreenRevolutionin Bali
Thierry Bardini
Universityof Montreal
This article uses the translation approach to analyze the Green Revolution in Bali,
IndonesiacThe translationapproachreopensthe controversyabout a classical topic in
developmentstudies: the failure or success of the Green Revolution.The translation
method helps us to understandhow the previous explanationsof the failure or success
of the GreenRevolutionin Bali were socially constructedand how thepresence and the
identity of social groups involved in agricultureon Bali were negotiated during the
controversy.J. Stephen Lansing's recent computer model of Balinese agriculture is
examined as a new componentof the Green Revolutiontechnological package. The
analysis shows thatthe success of Lansing's model is betterunderstoodas a resultof his
communicationstrategythan as a scientificachievement.
This case study investigatesa sociotechnologicalnetworkof agricultural
and information technologies. I propose to deconstructthis network by
comparingclassical analysis of the GreenRevolution and the results of the
anthropologicalwork of J. StephenLansing.Lansingused a microcomputer
to model the traditional,"religious"managementof irrigationin Bali. His
workdemonstratedthe "technologicalrationality"of this traditionalmanagement, which stresses efficient use of waterand pest control.
The rice ecosystem simulationmodel designed by Lansing and his colleagues created a new communicationchannel between two institutions
interestedin the managementof irrigationthathadpreviouslybeen invisible
to each other. On the computer screen, the priests involved in religious
irrigation management and the Green Revolution experts communicated
with one another.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: An earlierversion of the presentarticlewas deliveredat the 1991 annual
meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science, at MIT,Cambridge,MA, November 1991.
I thankEverettM. Rogers, J. StephenLansing,JamesN. Kremer,Michel Callon,and the three
anonymousreviewers for theirhelpfulcommentsand suggestions.
& HumanValues,Vol.19No. 2, Spring1994 152-168
Science,Technology,
Inc.
? 1994SagePublications
152
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
153
My analysis treatsthe computermodel as a new componentof the Green
Revolution technological package. The translationmethod helps us understand how previous explanations of the failure or success of the Green
Revolution in Bali were socially constructed,and how the presence and
identity of social groups involved in agricultureon Bali were negotiated
duringthis controversy.Lansing's results were importantin fosteringcommunication;in fact, the success of his strategycanbe explainedbetterin terms
of communicationthan in terms of the model's technological or scientific
achievements.
Translation Analysis
The case study of the GreenRevolutionin Bali is analyzedhere in terms
of attempts to translate different systems of knowledge (indigenous vs.
scientific), or differenttechnological and sociological ways of interpreting
the same set of phenomena. Translationis the process that constitutes a
sociotechnological network. To translateis to displace and transformthe
elementsof a so-called "technologicalpackage,"andto transformthe strategies of the actorsinvolvedin negotiationsoverthe futureof a network(Callon
1986). The translationapproach,developed by Michel Callon and Bruno
Latour,proposes an alternativeto explanationsof sociotechnologicalinnovation in terms of diffusion.
The use of translationvocabularyis a methodological choice (Callon
1986,1987; Latour1987). Translationanalysisrequiresthe study of a reality
"inthe making"(versusan a posteriorianalysisconductedafteran innovation
has diffused to users). Callon (1987) goes a step furtherwhen he states that
the study of technology can be considereda tool for sociological analysis. In
this case study, I reopen the controversy about the Green Revolution by
considering perspectives and approachesof groups that did not always
participatein the debate.I also examinethe introductionof the technological
packageof the Green Revolution in Bali as a confrontationof rationalities,
which are defined as systems of representationsconsistentwith the strategic
purposeof a group.Following the principlesof the "strongprogram"in the
sociology of knowledge (Bloor 1976), I do not make claims about the
absolute truth or falsehood of these representations.11 especially emphasize the postulatesof impartialityand symmetry,which state that no difference shouldbe madein explainingtrueor false beliefs (Hollis 1982). Further,
following Latour (1987), I use an extended postulate of symmetry, and
questionboth naturaland social explanationssymmetrically.
154
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
The Green Revolution in Bali
in thelate 1960s,theGreenRevolutionwasan international
Originating
of landbymeansof a Westernsciencecampaignto increasetheproductivity
based technology.The goal was nationalself-sufficiencyin grains.The
centralinnovationof the GreenRevolutionwas the introduction
of highHYVs)improvedgenetiyieldingrice,corn,andwheatvarieties(hereafter,
RiceResearchInstitutein thePhilippinesandthe
callyby theInternational
CentroInternacional
de Mejoramiento
de Mais y Trigoin Mexico.The
introduction
of theHYVsrequireda packageof otherrelatedinnovations.
The Green Revolution in rice-growing tends to be envisaged as a single,
transferable,indivisible package that includes not only the seeds of the new
varieties, but also chemical fertilizers,pesticides and weedicides, combined
with improvementof irrigationandthe adoptionof new agriculturalpractices.
(Farmer1977, 3)
Debateoverthesuccessof theGreenRevolutionhasragedforsometime
andotherexpertson desociologists,agronomists,
amonganthropologists,
have
studied
the
scientists
social
Social
consequencesof the
velopment.
of
the
Revolution
the
Green
underfield
of
technological
package
adoption
In
found
to
be
and
them
conditions,
largelynegative. contrast,natural
scientistsincludingagronomists,
geneticists,andbiologistshaveinsistedon
thesuccessof theHYVsundercontrolledcroppingconditions.
Twoissuestransformed
this scientificdebateintoa publiccontroversy:
whetherfarmershadsufficientaccessto commercial
inputs(mainlyfertilizer
andpesticides)andwhethertheHYVsworkedunderfieldconditions.Recent
studiesshowthattheseissuesarestill the subjectsof debate.Rigg (1989),
Lipton(1987),andHayami(1988)claimthatthewideningof ruralinequaliOthers
tiescanbeexplainedbyinsufficient
progressof theGreenRevolution.
in otherwords,thatit
maintainthattheGreenRevolutionis "scale-neutral,"
has benefitedevery class of farmer,althoughat differenttimes.2Field
evaluations
conditionsarethuscentralinboththesocialandthetechnological
of the GreenRevolutiontechnologies.Chambers,for example,statesthat
"thegibesaboutespeciallyfavoredconditionsonresearchstations,withtheir
reliablewater,theirfertilesoil, theiraccessto inputs,andtheirunlimited
uncosted)laboroughtto havepassedintohistory,
suppliesof (unmeasured,
butthey appearalmostas justifiednow as ever"(Chambers1977,407). I
returnto thispointlaterin thisarticle,whenI contrastthe diffusionistand
translation
analysesof theadoptionof theGreenRevolutionpackage.
the Balinesefarmingsysteminvolvestwo rice cropsper
Traditionally,
35 days (oneBalinesemonth)
year,witha fallowperiodof approximately
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
155
betweenthem. The firstcrop is a long-maturingvarietyof rice (padidel) that
is slow growing (200 to 210 days) but more nutritiousthanthe second crop
(padi cicih) that is usually a nonphotosensitiverice varietywith an average
growingperiodof only 120 days. Bali has a dry season and a rainyseason of
almost equal length. The traditionalfarmingsystem is arrangedso that the
first crop harvest occurs in midsummer,when the likelihood of rainfall is
minimaland sunlightis assuredfor ripeningthe rice grain.
The fallow periodis fundamentalfor pest controlin the traditionalfarming
system of Bali: It interruptsthe food supply and life cycle of the majorrice
pests. To prevent the migration of pests from one field to another, it is
thereforecritical that this fallow period extend over a wide geographical
region. This traditionalsystem requires a high degree of coordinationto
optimize managementof the fallow period and of water and pest control
(Lansing 1987).
From1978to 1984,theBaliIrrigationProject(BIP)promoteda new farming
system,followingtheIndonesiangovernment'spushforself-sufficiencyin grain
production(Table 1). The nationalgovernmentof Indonesiaand the Asian
DevelopmentBank spent $24 million in introducingHYVs, and in building
largerdams and canals in selected watersheds.The new rice varietiesgrew
fasterthanthe traditionalvarieties(90 days), allowing threeharvestsa year.
One consequenceof the GreenRevolutionwas to breakdown the regionwide fallow periodsin Bali to keep the rice fields in continuousproduction.
The government'sBIP office and the Asian DevelopmentBank thoughtthat
the ecosystem problemsinducedby the GreenRevolutioncould be solved if
farmerspurchasedincreasedamountsof pesticides and fertilizers.3But the
differencesin conditions between the agriculturalexperimentalstation and
the fields were apparentwhen,a few yearsafterthe introductionof the HYVs,
grainyields beganto decreaseundersome field conditions,In Bali, as in other
reportedcases, rice yields and the numberof croppedareasplantedwith the
HYVs declined from 1982 to 1984, and farmers began to return to the
traditionalrice farmingsystem (Table2).
Diffusion Statements
Dias reportsdecreasingyields after several years of use of HYVs in Sri
Lanka. He reviews differentexplanationsfor this situation,and concludes
that given interregionalpatterns,the Green Revolution package should be
adoptedselectively:
156
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
Table 1.
Percentage of Total Rice Areas Planted to High Yielding
Varieties
Year
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1977
1980
Indonesia
Bali
2.4
10.3
11.2
15.9 18.0
.-
48.0
70.0
80.0
1981
81.8
SOURCE:Indonesiafrom1969 to 1973: Dalrymple(1974); Indonesiafor 1981: Rigg
(1989); Bali from 1974 to 1977: Lansing(1991); Balifor 1980: Bali IrrigationProject
(1981).
Table 2.
Irrigated Rice Areas and Yields in Bali, 1979-1986
Year
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
Rice areas
(thousands ha)
(1979 = 100)
172
100
175
102
167
97
165
96
164
96
166
97
164
95
164
95
Rice yields
(tons/ha)
(1979 = 100)
4.4
100
5.0
114
5.2
118
5.1
116
5.0
114
4.5
102
4.6
105
5.3
120
SOURCE: Bali IrrigationProject (1988).
The early increasesachievedthroughthe new technologies,which gave much
hope and encouragement,mighthave been due to the utilizationof a potential
thathithertohave been underutilizedwiththe low productivitytechnologythat
then prevailed. A sudden burst of productivitywould be naturalunder such
circumstances,and the remarkableincreasein yields in the past decade or so
mighthave resultedfromit. The spreadof the technologyappearsnow to have
gone beyond the slack in the potentialthathad existed. (Dias 1977, 83)
Dias's point is that adoption of a high-productivity package does not
necessarily mean improvement in productivity: Innovative practices must be
adopted in a proper way. Adoption cannot be universal or independent from
local agro-climactic conditions. But Dias does not stop there. Instead, making
a diffusionist argument, he diagnoses the Sri Lankan situation as a problem
of overadoption. Rogers (1983) defines overadoption as improper adoption
of an innovation from an expert's point of view. After considering each aspect
of the farming system in Sri Lanka (access to commercial inputs, credit,
irrigation, etc.), Dias comes to the general conclusion that "while ecological
conditions may adversely affect all varieties of paddy, their effect on the more
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
157
efficient plant type is worse, and ... the conditionsrequiredto attainhigh
potentialyields areavailableto only a few farmersin the area"(Dias 1977,71).
The GreenRevolution,Dias says, createsa "psychologicalenvironment"
whose main featureis a pro-innovationbias (Rogers and Shoemaker1971).
Adoptionof the new technologyis encouragedfor its own sake,andthe belief
that adoption is beneficial remains unquestioned.4In short, farmersadopt
everythingbecausethey believe thatthe technologicalpackageis indivisible.
But according to the diffusionist, this behavior is rigid and monolithic,
whereas naturalconditions vary.When the farmersoveradoptbecause they
believe in the innovationitself, they face a naturalfate.
Dias's recommendationto adopt the Green Revolution package selectively illustratesanotherdevelopmentin the diffusionresearchtradition:the
concept of reinvention.Reinventionis defined as "the degree to which an
innovationis changedor modifiedby a userin the processof its adoptionand
implementation"(Rice and Rogers 1980). Rogers acknowledges that reinvention is a "mentalbreakthrough"
for the diffusion researchtradition:
Forthe firstthirty-fiveyearsor so of diffusionresearch,we simplydid not
existed.An innovation
wasregarded
recognizethatre-invention
by diffusion
scholarsasaninvariant
duringitsdiffusionprocess.Nowwerealize,belatedly,
thatan innovationmaybe perceivedsomewhatdifferentlyby eachadopter,
andmodifiedto suittheindividual's
situation.(Rogers1983,98)
particular
Acknowledgementof the possibility of reinventionis one way to avoid a
pro-innovationbias in diffusionresearch.Onceanalystsabandonthe ideathat
a technologicalinnovationis perfect,they recognize that they should study
adoptionat its implementationstage, andexamineinnovationin the making.
I shall try to demonstratethat this conceptual change has more radical
consequencesthanthose commonly acceptedin the diffusionisttradition.In
fact, reinventionconstitutesan anomalyfor the diffusionparadigm.5To show
this, we need to returnto the idea of a technologicalpackage.
Applied to the analysis of the diffusion of a technological package, the
concept of reinventionmergeswith the conceptof selective adoption.Selective adoptionof a technologicalpackageis a formof reinvention:It reinvents
the packageminusone or severalof its elements.Exemplifiedhereby Dias's
analysis, the diffusion approachoffers explanationsonly in termsof natural
conditionsor individualsituations.Is thereanythingsocial (collective) in this
process? If in our analysis of the diffusion of a technological package, we
wantto go furtherthanan a posterioriobservationof reinventionor selective
adoptionwe needto addressthe questionof the social processesthatorganize
and frameindividualsituationsand naturalconditions.
158
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
Anthropological Statements
Accordingto the Bali Rice Ecosystem SimulationModel (Kremer1989),
the introductionof the new farmingsystem of the GreenRevolutionin Bali
led, after several years, to increased insect resistance to pesticides. For
example, in the Pengaringanirrigationareaof Bali, the increasein cropping
intensityand the shift to watermanagementpromotedby the GreenRevolution led to decreasingrice yields because of tungroattack(Table3).
Moreover,the previously balancedecosystem broke down. Along with
the pests, the heavy applicationsof pesticides were killing fish and eels, and
sometimesfarmers.Accordingto theBali Rice EcosystemSimulationModel,
these ecological consequencesof the GreenRevolutionwerethe mainreason
for the decrease of rice yields (Kremer1989). The model provides insight
into managementin rice croppingby testing whetherthe optimallyefficient
use of waterand pest controlwere assuredby regionalcoordination.
The developmentof the model startedin 1983 when J. StephenLansing,
an anthropologistat the University of SouthernCalifornia,began studying
the role of the water temple system as a scheduling mechanism for the
rice-growingseason. Lansing suggested that "irrigationis centrallyorganized by a system of watertemples, separatefrom the state"(Lansing 1987,
338). Watertemplesarelocatedat the upstreamedge of the watersystemthey
control,linkingthe physicalfeaturesof the irrigationsystems to social units
accordingto a logic of rice production.Lansing'sstudyof Balinese calendars
and water temples shows a link between managementof irrigation and
centralizationof power.Officials of the Asian DevelopmentBank,however,
still felt in 1985 that temple priests did not exercise any active role in
activities.
irrigation-related
In Lansing's opinion, comparison of traditionaland modem farming
systems requiredan integrativeapproachthatcombinedtechnicalandreligious factors. The Bali Rice Ecosystem SimulationModel representedthe
traditionaland modem farming systems in an ecological perspective, attemptingto assess the rationalityof this complexreality.The underlyingidea
was that "in Balinese rice terraces, water is used to create an artificial
ecosystem"(Lansing 1987, 327). Watermanagementnot only brings water
to the rice crop,it also transformsthe surroundingecosystem.Understanding
the rationalitythat transformsthis farming system requiresmeasuringits
impacton the entireecosystem, notjust on rice yields. The main idea of the
model was to understandthe process of transformationin farmingsystems
ratherthanjust the input/outputbalance.
TheBalinese ecosystem was too complex to be modeled in all its dimensions.Computermodelingbegins with the definitionof a groundhypothesis.
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
Table 3.
159
Change in Y'mldsand Cropping Intensity in the Pengaringan
Irrigation Area of Bali
Yields(Qs/ha)
DrySeason
Before project
After project
Variation (in percent)
49.44
36.70
-25.77
Yields(qs/ha)
WetSeason
45.47
36.43
-19.88
CroppingIntensity(%)
233.33
300.00
+66.67
SOURCE: The University of Udayana Team (1985).
This step depends on the objectives of the model and the conditions of the
setting. Lansing sought to demonstrate the technologically rational
achievementof watertemples management.He found that "two irrigationmanagementinstitutionscoexist on the island,institutionsso fundamentally
dissimilarthatthey are all but invisible to each other"(Lansing 1987, 339).
The design strategy for specifying the model assumed that "empirical
relevance was more desirablethan scientific precision, and we had to deal
with informationappropriateto the intendedaudience"(Kremer1989). The
variablesused in the model were water use and pest control. An optimum
regional coordinationin water use and pest control among the 172 subaks6
was obtainedby runningdifferentscenariosthatvariedthe extent of coordination from all subaksfollowing the same schedule to 172 differentschedules. The model providedseven choices, which "assumethatthe subaksplant
andharvesttogetherin groupsthatparallelto variousdegreesthe subdivision
of [water]temple hierarchy"(Kremer1989).
The firstresultssuggestedthatsuch an intermediatescale of coordination
to balance water use and pest control was indeed optimal, and that it
correspondedto the scale of coordinationthat resulted from the structure
imposed on the system by the networkof watertemples administeredby the
watertemple priests (Kremer1989).
Additional results showed that (a) the priests and the village elders
received the computermodel very positively and showed greatinterestin its
furtherdevelopment, and (b) the Asian Development Bank and the Bali
IrrigationProjectacknowledgedthe model results.The ProjectPerformance
Audit Reportstated:
solutionin theevent
The substitutionof the "hightechnologyandbureaucratic"
proved counter-productive.While administratorsand subaks have now returnedto a lower rice croppingintensity and to a more coordinatedrotation,
the cost of the lack of appreciationof the meritsof the traditionalregime has
been high. (Bali IrrigationProject 1988, 48-50)
160
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
Symmetry
The Bali case study shows the creationof an integrativeforum of communicationbetweenpreviouslyinvisible institutions,namelythe BIP,World
Bank, and water temples. This forum allowed for the mutual acknowledgement of the existence of each institution.Lansing's concern, as an
anthropologist,was to reopenthe blackbox of the GreenRevolutionpackage
by considering the social reality of Bali. His model showed that from a
sociological perspective,therewere no "naturalconditions."It demonstrated
the effective links among the artificial(human-made)characteristicsof the
rice field ecosystem.
Further,in light of the model'sresults,we can see a featureof the rhetorical
strategyimpliedin diffusionistanswersto the failureof the GreenRevolution
in Bali. If the ecosystem is artificial or socially constructed,7we cannot
explain the failureof the GreenRevolutionby demonstratingits inadequate
adaptationto "nature.""Naturalconditions"are themselves a social representation,andcalling them "natural"is nothingmore thana way of reifying
them, thatis, puttingthem out of the social realm.
Yet, the problemof the social or collective level, which I raised earlier,
remains:How does the diffusion explanationconstructthe collective level
between naturalconditions and individualsituations?If naturalconditions
are socially constructedrepresentations,what is the link between the social
andthe individual?To answerthese questions,we must addressthe issue of
systems of beliefs.
Until now, I have followed the preliminarysteps in a constructivist
analysis of the Green Revolution in Bali. I have "establisheda contrast
betweenalternativeaccounts"of this reality(Woolgar1983, 247), a contrast
betweena diffusionanalysis,basedon the conceptsof selective or overadoption, and an anthropologicalanalysis, based on the concepts of artificial
ecosystems and indigenousknowledge.8Onepossible next step would be to
state that the anthropologicalanalysis gives a better explanation of this
reality: The Green Revolution failed in Bali because the introductionof
Westerntechnologies neglected the social organizationof irrigationbefore
the GreenRevolution.
Following Latour(1987), however, I would ratherabandonsocial determinism as a way out of the dead-endof technologicaldeterminism.What
exactly do I mean by "social"here?Froma relativistperspective,natureis a
set of socially constructedrepresentations.But the relativist perspective
needsto be extended:Society is a resultof the sameprocessof representation.
Bardini/ The Green Revolutionin Bali
161
Translations
"Social factors"cannot serve as explanationsbecause the social entities
themselves have somehow been constitutedpriorto our attemptat explanation. A stabilizedsocial system, halftraditionalandhalf modern,cannotserve
as an explanation in the Bali case; rather, our problem is precisely to
understandthe production and reproductionof this system. The hybrid
system was invisible to participantsin the GreenRevolution,but exists now
as a result of Lansing'ssuccessful translation.We cannotsay thatthe Green
Revolution failed in Bali because it neglected the social organizationof
irrigation;indeed,the relevantsocial organizationof irrigationis the one that
resulted from the changes introducedby the Green Revolution. A new
definitionof whatis social andwhatis technologicalemergedfromthe Green
Revolutioncontroversyitself.
The translationanalysis of this case first requiresa methodologicalshift
in the general study of the adoptionof the Green Revolution technological
package.This shift is a consequenceof two statementsI discussed above: (a)
the necessity of consideringinnovationat the level of the whole package,and
(b) the possibility of reinvention.The technological package of the Green
Revolutionis subjectto change and is neitherperfectlydefined nor indivisible: The Green Revolution controversyis still open. What happens if the
computermodel is consideredas a new componentof this package?
Several factors explain the social success of the introductionof the
computermodel. Recall thatthe model defines two majorsources of uncertainty,waterand pests (Figure 1). The efficiency of an intermediatescale of
coordinationof watermanagementand pest controlwas fundamentalto the
1985 failure of the Bali IrrigationProject. The introductionof the HYVs
transformedthe farmingsystem, but in termsof the technologicalrationality
of the western science-based package, the transformationwas incomplete.
Selective adoptionof the componentsof the packageby individualsmade it
collectively inefficient. The package'srationalityimplies that farmersplant
and harvestindependentlyfrom each other,but thateach of them adoptsthe
same package(especially the pesticides).The new farmingsystem could not
be controlledby the officials of the Bali IrrigationProject.Even when farmers
came backto the traditionalfarmingsystem andacceptedsocial coordination
through water temple priests, their adoption of the HYVs prevented the
priests from controllingthe resultinghybridsystem (HYVs, but traditional
management).Selective adoptionthus worksboth ways. The adoptionof the
HYVs irreversiblytransformedthe traditionalpackage.
Because the two irrigationmanagementinstitutionsdescribedby Lansing
were invisibleto one another,theycould notcommunicatedirectly.However,
162
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
Asian
Government
Agencies
Development
Bank
Prtfesls
Vtllage
Elders
Steve
Lansing
National
Science
aOJECT
BALIIRiGATION PF
IRRI
HYVs,Pesticides
andfertilizers
Jim
FARMERS
V V
Water
Pests
j
~
Yields
Pests
j
Problem: Is there an optimalspatial
scale of coordinationto balance
the use of water and pest control?
Lansing controls uncertaintyon water managment
and pest control;the actorn acknowledge the value
of the model.
Figure 1. TranslationScheme of the Bali Ecosystem Simulation Model
Lansingand his model made theirmeeting possible on the computerscreen.
The computerallowed him to translatethe rationality,role, and strategy of
all actors (farmers,priests, andofficials) into termsthe otherscould understand.Throughhis computer-basedcontrolof the two sourcesof uncertainty
mentionedabove,Lansingmanagedto speakfor everybody.His own account
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
163
of the sociotechnologicalnetworkis successful in giving all the actantsroles
they can accept. Even when they stress the anthropologicalside of the
problem,Kremerand Lansing acknowledgethis conclusion:
It is only after the largerview of the system was explicitly identifiedby our
computermodel thatmanagerand officials saw the relevance-even thoughit
was religious, it was part of the system, it played a meaningful role, and
deserved consideration.This point of view was more importantthan any
specific model result.I do not believe thata conventionalmodel documented
in conventionalwrittenreportsandprintedgraphswouldhavepenetratedthe state
of mindof mostof oureventualaudience.(KremerandLansing1991, 27)
AboutPowerand Marginality
In an earlierarticle,I presenteda rationalefor the use of microcomputers
in linking indigenous knowledge systems and development programs
(Bardini1992). I examinedthe problemof the confrontationof rationalities
which arises when "local or indigenousknowledge"is used for purposesof
development,andconcludedthata strongversionof the cognitive anthropology programshould provide understandingof cognitive process, not only
performantmimickingof indigenousknowledge selected for the purposeof
comparisonwith westernknowledge.
Thequestionraisedby the Bali case can be addressedfromthe same basic
premises,andthe previousresultscan formthe base of a response.Lansing's
translationof the traditionalirrigationmanagementsystem in Bali convinced
the bureaucrats,who until then had discardedthe religious managementof
irrigationas irrelevant,to recognizethe technicalrationalityof the traditional
system. Lansing's computer-basedstrategywas successful because it translatedtraditionalrationalityinto termsunderstandableto the expertsoriented
towardwesterntechnology and officials of the Balinese watermanagement
bureaucracy.In otherwords, the mediummade the message meaningful.
How did this translationalterthe identityof the traditionalsystem and of
the groups it involved?9It is impossible to avoid such questions as how
representativethe model is and whether it creates new opportunitiesfor
oppression.These questionsrelateto a centralissue (perhapseven an obligatory passage point, in Callon's terminology) in the currentdebate on the
ethical and political consequences of translationanalysis. According to
Callon,
Tospeak for othersis first to silence those in whose name we speak.... [T]he
groupsor populationsin whose names the spokesmenspeak are elusive. The
164
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
has
(or the referent)existsonce the long chainof representatives
guarantor
beenputintoplace.(Callon1986,216-18)
Callon's claims have recently been criticized by a numberof scholars
(Law 1991; Star 1991). Most relativistsociologists agreethatit is necessary
to respect differenttypes of rationalities,and to acknowledgethe existence
of nonwesternways of thinking,regardlessof whetherthey are interesting
or valid in comparisonto westernways of thinking.Traditionaltechnology
is often embedded in a system of social, cultural, and economic representationsthatcannotbe analyzedfromthe supposedlyneutralpoint of view
of western science because they have a religious significance which alters,
influences, or colors thejudgmentsmade.Moreover,westernscience or any
otherscience will not have, norcan it have, a "neutralpoint of view" as long
as science is based on human activities.1?We must therefore study such
differentrationalitiesin theirown terms,and not select them by comparison
with the criteriaprovidedby our rationality.
Lansing's model translatesthe traditionalway of thinkingso as to make
it understandablewithin the rationalityof westernscience. Steve Lansing is
a centralcharacterin our story, but he is marginalto both the western and
traditionalworlds. His computermodel is a metaphor,a bridge between
different worlds. Such "double"marginalityis a powerful position from
which to reversethe oppressiveorder.It allows him to have access to those
"mixedrepertoires"from which metaphorsare created(Star 1991). How he
and others translatethose metaphorsinto network action is a fascinating
questionfor furtherresearch.
Conclusion
The translationanalysis, in reconstructingthe sociotechnological network, gives the same status to human and nonhumanactors, to represenThe processof representation
tations and representatives.
describesa relationshipbetweenactorsduringacontroversy.A negotiateswithB arepresentation
of B's role and strategy.If A's strategyis successful in giving B a role and a
strategythatB accepts,then A representsB and speaks for B duringfurther
negotiations.A's success dependson controlof the sourcesof uncertaintyfor
B's strategy(Callon 1986).
Inthe case of the introductionof thecomputermodel, the modelrepresents
the network.The efficiency of representationis visible in the "penetrationof
the state of mind"of the eventualaudience.The interestvariousactorsshow
in the innovationitself, in ourcase the computermodel, is in the end the only
Bardini/ The GreenRevolutionin Bali
165
criterion of its diffusion. Success or failure are explained symmetrically, with
no distinction a priori, and all the interests, whatever their means of expression, are treated the same way.
Translation is not presented in this article as a magic act, one that in its
rhetorical effectiveness instantly constitutes social relationships and agriculture. My analysis shows that Lansing's work is part of the whole Green
Revolution edifice, which has begrudgingly accepted the hidden rationality
of indigenous knowledge systems. Lansing helped in defining the traditional
system and its relevant social groups during this controversy by translating
their rationality into the language of the experts trained in western science
who previously had not acknowledged the existence of these groups. When
we follow the controversy as it takes place, it becomes apparent that in terms
of this particular network, the social groups involved in the traditional system
did not exist as actors before Lansing's translation.
But explaining this does not definitively establish the identities of the
tenants of the traditional system. We should never forget that those identities
are much more complex and multiple than the poor versions that convinced
the bureaucrats.
Notes
1. I use a relative definitionof rationality,at the opposite of a universaldefinitionin the
Mertoniantraditionof "theethos of science"which states,'Yruthclaims, whatevertheirsources
aresubjectto pre-establishedimpersonalcriteria:Consonantwith observationand with previous
confirmedknowledge."(Merton1957, 553). FollowingKnorr-CetinaandMulkay I considerthat
these ideas must be challenged"forportrayingscientific changeas a succession of all-encompassing andmutuallyincomprehensibleworldviews which leave no roomfor diversity,multiple
coherenceandflexibilityof paradigmcomponentsobservedin scientificpractice"(Knorr-Cetina
and Mulkay 1983, 5).
2. BrianPfaffenbergeralso examinesthis pointin an interestingstudyof the differentiating
potential of the gravity-flow irrigationin Sri Lanka. He concludes that the modernirrigation
technology does not cause socioeconomic differentiation,but that "it does nothing or little to
stop an existing differentiationprocess"(Pfaffenberger1990, 395).
3. For futureinformationand analysis of the process of the Green Revolutionin Bali, as
well as the process of their modeling study, see Lansing (1987, 1991), Kremer(1989), and
Kremerand Lansing (1991).
4. Dias is presentinghere a ratherparadoxicalpoint in a diffusionistperspective:What he
called "overadoption"is in realitya result of the traditionaldiffusionperspectivewhich claims
that partial(or selective) adoptionis to be discouragedas much as possible. In other words,
selective adoptionand overadoptionarethe two sides of the same argumentthatcan be invoked
accordingto the situation.In both cases, the farmeris responsiblefor the failureof the package,
eitherbecause he is not respectingits indivisibilityor because he is respectingit too much!
166
Science, Technology,& HumanValues
5. "Theawarenessof anomalyopens a periodin which conceptualcategoriesare adjusted
until the initiallyanomaloushas become anticipated"(Kuhn 1970, 64).
6. A "subak"is the Balinese wordfor a local farmers'associationoperatingas a wateruser
group.The invisibilityof the watertemple system comes from the fact that"irrigationdevelopmentplans invariablyassumethatthe individualsubaksarethe highestlevel traditionalBalinese
institutionconcernedwith irrigation"(Lansing 1987, 339).
7. The use of this expressiondirectlyrefersto the approachknown as "social constructivism." The relationshipbetween this approachhereaftercriticizedand the translationapproach
is describedin the generalintroductionof Bijker,Hughes, and Pinch (1987).
8. In an earlierarticleI have detailedthe IndigenousKnowledgeSystem (IKS) perspective
and demonstratedwith otherexamples what role indigenousknowledge-basedexpert systems
could play for development(Bardini1992). See the section "AboutPower andMarginality"for
developmentof this point.
9. This question was raised by an anonymousreviewer,who claimed that "Lansingis by
no means certainthat the computermodel will really convince Balinese officials to recognize
the wisdom of the traditionalpractices."
10. I am gratefulto an anonymousreviewerfor this improvedexpressionof my point here.
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ThierryBardiniis currentlyAssistantProfessorin the Departmentof Communicationat
the Universityof Montreal(C. P.6128 SuccA,Montreal,QuebecH3C3J7, Canada).The
research reportedin this article was conducted in 1990-1992 when he was a visiting
scholar at the Annenberg School for Communicationat the University of Southern
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California.He has conductedresearchon the economicsand sociology of agricultural
production in China and Venezuela.Under a grant from the Food and Agricultural
Organizationof the UnitedNations, his researchhas focused on technological change
in rural societies, and particularly since 1991 on the uses of microcomputersfor
development.This study expanded in 1992 with a new researchproject on the social
history of microcomputertechnologyin the UnitedStates.