This article uses the translation approach to analyze the Green Revolution in Bali,
Indonesia. The translation approach reopens the controversy about a classical topic in
development studies: the failure or success of the Green Revolution. The translation
method helps us to understand how the previous explanations of the failure or success
of the Green Revolution in Bali were socially constructed and how the presence and the
identity of social groups involved in agriculture on Bali were negotiated during the
controversy. J. Stephen Lansing's recent computer model of Balinese agriculture is
examined as a new component of the Green Revolution technological package. The
analysis shows that the success of Lansing's model is better understood as a result of his
communication strategy than as a scientific achievement.
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