Alternative Technologies and
Organizational Forms: A Review and
Typology of Initiatives in Agriculture
Dinesh Abrol
Delhi Science Forum and All India
Peoples’ Science Network
Thrissur, India
13-16 October 2014
Social Movements, Science, Technology and
Development: Deploy the lens of Undone S&T
• When social movements undertake the development of
alternative technologies and organizational forms their
contribution needs to be understood as “Undone S&T”
being organized
– The concept of “Undone S&T” needs to be understood as a
process of epistemic modernization of S&T fields, which
evolves as a countervailing process to its industrialization and
neo-liberalization and involves recognition of a specific type of
ignorance
– Knowable unknown but Undone S&T that the involved
scientists and publics also see as positive or desirable to
undertake
– Undone S&T has even sometimes the potential for surprising
the dominant as well as alternative pursuing groups of
scientists and social movements);
Undone S&T
Closing and Opening of Spaces
 Since the conflict between the more and less powerful is obviously fundamental for
understanding the role of Undone S&T being undertaken by the social movements,
closing and opening of the spaces for Undone S&T being undertaken needs to be
analysed in terms of the nature of framings and strategies under development
through the agency of social movements
 Framings of Undone S&T in India and the structural change affected for alternative
technologies and organizational forms
 How do we understand the configuring of the undone S&T in terms of the dynamics of the nexus
of relations among social movements, governments, and industries (the extra-S&T field
relations) is critical to working out our future strategies for scaling up (experiment, real world
experiment, niche formation, regime change)
 Analysis should focus on the role and relationships emerging through the efforts
being undertaken for Alternative Technologies and Organizational Forms as
historically evolving contributions of “Undone S&T” and the relationships that the
social movements have been able to build with science, technology, state, industry,
and civil society
 Complex dynamics of the inter-field relations and the politics of scientific knowledge and nonknowledge needs to be therefore understood in the historical and comparative context of
interventions from a political sociological perspective
Alternative Technologies and Organizational Forms:
As “Undone S&T” undertaken by Social Movements
contributing to Industrial Innovation
 “Undone S&T” when embedded in a theory of dynamics of scientific and
technological fields and industrial change,
 the two organizing axis involved in the building of our understanding of the
dynamics of undone S&T are the epistemic conflict dimension and the relationships
between social movements and industrial-technological change are
 the level of epistemic conflict in a research field of S&T and its extra-field
relations in terms of relations between scientists, government, industry and
people and
 the relationship to industrial and technical change in terms of the policy and
institutional reforms for (sun-rising) that support the creation of alternative
technologies, techniques (practices), and /or organisational structures or the
policy and institutional reforms for (sun-setting) that support technology /
technique targeted for sunset and those opposed to existing or emergent ones
 The level of conflict is variable, based again on the degree of opposition / of
alternative to an existing scientific and technological field or to industrial order.
The proposed two axis typology for analysis is required to be conceived as a
continuum when applied to concrete cases.
Alternative Industrial Order Movements (AIMs):
Alternative technologies targeted for Sunrise
 Alternative Industrial Order Movements (AIMs), technology-and productoriented movements (TPMs) and certification movements-the latter may
develop out of the former) can indicate high epistemic conflict and involve
the emergence of scientific counter-publics particularly when the
technology is targeted for Sunrise,
 Undone S&T during the emergence phase as research on alternative technologies,
products, and production techniques –
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase institutional support and
funding granted for research but often limited, (Example of agro-ecology‘sunrising’ of agro-ecological approaches by the social movements, LEISA,
Biomass based Industrial Production),
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase involve the building of
countervailing industrial power(Examples-Open Source Seed Systems,
introduction of bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides),
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase evolve into
complementation through incorporation & transformation (Examples- IPM or
INM, Soil and Water management, drudgery reducing technologies, Or industrial
regime transition through transformation ( certification schemes in organics)
Industrial Opposition Movements (AIMs):
Alternative technologies targeted for Sunset
 AIMs that though indicate high epistemic conflict and involve the
emergence of scientific counter-publics but when the technology /
technique is targeted for Sunset
 Undone S&T during the emergence phase as research on risk,
safety, uncertainty;
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase are funding
granted / demanded for risk evaluation and partial moratorium with
precautionary politics (Examples-Genetically Modified Organisms, NPM),
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase governments
respond with public participation mechanisms and softening of
technocratic governance S&T (Example- Non-pesticide Management
(NPM), Jind Experiment, Karnal;
 Extra-field S&T relations during the routinization phase industry may block
change with contra-public strategies (Examples-Drip irrigation, Power
Tillers
Movements for restructuring of state sector,
public governance and industrial organization
• Industrial restructuring movements (IRMs)-indicate though low
epistemic conflict but focus more on changing the ownership and
organizational dimensions
 Undone S&T during the emergence phase undertaken as research into
the new organizational forms and the development of organizational
technologies or techniques
 Extra-field relations of Undone S&T during the routinization phase
involves diffusion of new forms ,
 Extra-field relations of Undone S&T during the routinization phase can
involve radical restructuring of relations among the people,
government and industry
 Extra-field relations of Undone S&T during the routinization phase can
mean organizational forms remain in niche position, and Or
mainstream coopts some aspects of organizational innovation
• Examples of Peoples’ Planning, Kutumbshree, Green Army
Industrial access movements
 Industrial access movements indicate though low
epistemic conflict but focus more on access dimension
 Undone S&T as support for research on access issues
 Funding granted for access category
 Advocacy organizations partner with industry
 Advocacy organizations shift into service provisioning
 Contra-public dynamics emerge from neo-liberal ideology
 Examples: Access to Water, Energy, Fertilizers,
Laboratory and on-farm research (OFR), farmer field
schools
Development of Social Carriers
• FGs, TGs and SGs:
• Group enterprise formation
• Stage of development of relations with S&T
personnel and institutions
• Need analysis, User capacity building,
Continuous technology improvement,
Network formation
• Relationship with larger political movements