Frédéric Goulet and Dominique Vinck (eds.), Doing Without, Doing With Less: The New Horizons of Innovation, Presses des Mines, 2022
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Frédéric Goulet and Dominique Vinck (eds.), Faire sans, faire avec moins: Les nouveaux horizons de l'innovation, Presses des Mines, 2022
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Book Reviews
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Gabrielle Lavenir
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Frédéric Goulet and Dominique Vinck (eds.), Faire sans, faire avec moins: Les nouveaux horizons de l'innovation, Presses des Mines, 2022
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T/S                                                                               BOOK REVIEWS



Faire sans, faire avec moins: Les nouveaux horizons de l'innovation
[Doing Without, Doing With Less: The New Horizons of Innovation]
by Frédéric Goulet and Dominique Vinck (eds.) (2022) Paris‚ Presses des Mines, pp. 252.




Gabrielle Lavenir
Concordia University


   Faire sans‚ faire avec moins explores the phenomenon of innovation-through-substraction
(innovation par retrait)‚ a term that describes the process through which actors attempt to
reduce or remove problematic entities from a sociotechnical system. Here, substraction is not
merely a matter of not using an entity anymore. Rather, it is a call for political mobilisation‚
technical alternatives‚ legislative actions‚ cooperation between actors‚ and the reconfiguration
of all relevant chains of association. Innovation-through-substraction is a challenging process
that rarely succeeds. As the editors note, examples showing how subtraction can fail are quite
common. Chemicals identified as dangerous by European Union (EU) agencies continue to
be widely used and commercialized across Europe‚ pharmaceutical drugs remain available
in the midst of controversies about their side effects‚ and attempts to halve pesticide use in
France have only managed to slow its increase.
   The book is a collection of case studies conducted in various countries (including France,
Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Argentine, and Brazil) gathered by Frédéric Goulet
and Dominique Vinck. The editors are also the co-authors of the paper that, already a decade
ago, popularized the theoretical framework for innovation-through-substraction (Goulet and
Vinck 2012). Each of the thirteen chapters expands on Goulet and Vinck’s argument‚ which
was based on a study of farmers’ attempts to avoid plowing‚ a time-consuming and costly
practice that exacerbates soil erosion‚ and to develop alternative agricultural techniques. The
innovation-through-substraction framework proposes to enrich innovation studies by de-
centring classical narratives of innovation as the introduction of a new technology (Godin et
al. 2021). Shifting the priorities set by Schumpeterian definitions of innovation, it contends
with the “destruction” rather than the “creation” aspect of the process. Goulet and Vinck’s
framework is in line with STS’ historical focus on innovation as a process that involves tweak-
ing, re-using and abandoning aspects of new as well as existing technology, as in Akrich’s case
study of the adaptation of a wood waste compacting machine from Sweden to Nicaragua
(1989). Innovation-through-substraction also shares Actor-Network Theory’s interest in as-
semblages (Akrich et al. 2006)‚ but with a focus on the detachments and disentanglements of
actants. This “sociology of detachment” pays close attention to the problematization of an

CNOSIEZA.T taI lian Journal fo Science & eT chnology tudiS es    © The Author(s) 2023
          14(2) p. 13-27 ISN 2038-46                             Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
               DOI: 10.692/isn/18594.203-6                       www.tecnoscienza.net
Lavenir                                                                                       128

actant‚ which in turn brings to the fore entities and associations that were previously unseen.
As new entities enter the assemblage to compensate for the exclusion of the problematic act-
ant‚ they trigger a reorganization of entities within the assemblage.
   The book’s ambition is to develop and systematize the editors’ 2012 theoretical proposal by
testing it against varied case studies. The book therefore takes part in the ongoing discussion
about the uses of innovation as a concept, a narrative and a socio-technical imaginary (Godin
et al. 2021). Thematically, the book also significantly engages with the growing field of agri-
food studies in STS (Creager and Gaudillière 2021). In the introduction‚ the editors identify
several fields in which innovation-through-substraction is already an object of study. Con-
ceptually, besides engagements with STS and innovation studies‚ their framework resonates
with transition studies‚ particularly the literature on ecological transitions‚ and the studies of
frugal innovation (Geels 2002). Yet Goulet and Vinck argue that there is a need for a frame-
work that specifically and fully engages with the substraction process‚ its implications and its
challenges. The focus on substraction, rather than frugality, brings into view the paradoxical
additions that are necessary for substraction to happen: developing alternative technology,
adding new actors into the network, and making problematic substances newly visible.
   The editors of Faire sans‚ faire avec moins are both sociologists of agriculture. This disci-
plinary approach is also reflected in the book’s contributions. Most of the chapters concern
food: how we produce it‚ prepare it‚ eat it‚ and most crucially‚ why we remove some food from
our diets and how. Case studies explore what it means not to eat gluten (Ch. 3) or meat (Ch.
4)‚ to reduce the use of pesticides in crop farming (Ch. 7) or antibiotics in livestock farming
(Ch. 8)‚ to set up food-to-cafeteria circuits (Ch. 9) or decentralized agricultural data collec-
tion systems (Ch. 10)‚ and to get rid of food packaging (Ch. 11). The book also broaches
other topics‚ such as vaccine hesitancy (Ch. 6) and pharmaceutical drug withdrawal (Ch. 13)
‚ electricity non-consumption (Ch. 5)‚ and regulations about chemical substances in indus-
trial production (Ch. 12). It also offers more theoretical perspectives‚ including a historical
analysis of the concept of innovation (Ch. 1) and a reflection on systemic disruption (Ch. 2).
   Six themes return throughout the book’s chapters. First‚ the phenomenon of innova-
tion-through-substraction relies on a powerful narrative that calls for the return to a simpler
and often more natural way of life. The push for getting rid of a substance or a practice is not
only a collective negotiation of the acceptable level of risk. It draws on hopes for a better fu-
ture‚ a “promise of difference” (p. 143) that would grant people more freedom, a simpler life,
and a closer connection with nature. Several chapters illustrate that these hopes are bound to
be disappointed‚ as substraction almost always implies the establishment of an alternative as
well as new mediations to sustain it. In a word, things rarely ever get simpler or more natural:
whenever an actor is taken away from the assemblage, one or several others are introduced in
its place in order to stabilize the sociotechnical system as a whole. Yet the narrative endures
and finds its roots in a historical condemnation of innovation(-through-addition) as a dan-
gerous challenge to the natural order of things (Ch. 1).
   Second‚ the substraction of an entity results from an active and prolonged mobilisation on
the part of concerned groups and institutions. The identification of a substance or a technol-
ogy as dangerous or even deadly is not enough to prompt its withdrawal. The continued use
of Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), a chemical used in plastic goods, within the EU is a
129                                                                     Tecnoscienza. 2023. 14(2)

striking case (Ch. 12). While the EU’s institutions instances have acknowledged the dangeros-
ity of DEHP‚ industrial firms manage to circumvent the EU Regulation on the Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)‚ taking advantage of the
joint submission process (which lets several companies present a shared application for the au-
thorization of a molecule) and substituting dangerous molecules with similar substances that
have not (yet) been examined and banned under REACH. In sum‚ for a substraction to hap-
pen‚ a crisis is not enough. Existing sociotechnical systems are solidly locked into place‚ and
the process of withdrawal has to be organized and governed in the long run to succeed (Ch. 2).
   Third‚ innovation-through-substraction can paradoxically stabilize, rather than change,
a sociotechnical system. Substraction can be a way of “changing everything to ensure that
nothing changes” (p. 37) by removing the problematic entity before it endangers the system
as a whole. Pharmaceutical firms use withdrawal as a loss management strategy when sales are
low or when a drug becomes embroiled in a controversy‚ evading more fundamental critiques
about the industry as a whole (Ch. 13). The trajectory of appetite suppressants in West Ger-
many between the 1960s and the 1980s illustrates this process. A scandal about the drug’s
dangerous side effects led to a withdrawal of the medication‚ changes in its composition‚ and
a reintroduction on the market under the same name. There would be two more scandals and
two more cycles of withdrawal and reintroduction over the next two decades. This highlights
the stability of sociotechnical systems as well as the importance of the substitution process in
the conduct of innovation-through-substraction.
   Fourth‚ and this is at the heart of the book’s theoretical proposal‚ innovation-through-sub-
straction is as much about bringing new entities into the system and creating new relationships
as it is about excluding actants and undoing attachments. Efforts to minimize the use of anti-
biotics in livestock farming are typical in this regard (Ch. 8). Depending on the sector (poultry‚
pigs‚ dairy cows)‚ the diminution of antibiotics use depends on the introduction of new entities
and practices: reorganizing the barn’s space‚ keeping a closer watch on early symptoms of dis-
ease in animals‚ using aromatherapy and homeopathy‚ etc. In some sectors‚ the process inten-
sifies farmers’ involvement in large agribusiness conglomerates that oversee “antibiotics-free”
labels‚ and in others‚ farmers enter new networks organized around local peer groups and alter-
native farming techniques. The (partial) substraction of antibiotics therefore has very different
implications for farmers‚ particularly in terms of network reconfiguration. As for the creation
of farm-to-cafeteria circuits‚ in which institutions that oversee school cafeterias and other can-
teens attempt to switch to locally-produced food‚ it produces “quasi-detachments” rather than
revolutions (Ch. 9). The proximity of farmers willing to sell their products and cafeteria man-
agers willing to buy them is not enough to ensure a transition to locally-produced food. To
account for numerous constraints‚ such as regulation about food safety or farmers’ refusal to
deal directly with clients‚ assemblages bring together old and new entities and mediators.
   Fifth‚ innovation-through-substraction is at its core a matter of making certain entities
visible and others invisible. The problematization of an entity‚ designated as dangerous and
intolerable‚ brings to light the functions it fulfills and the relationships it maintains with the
rest of the assemblage. The history of food sale and specifically of food packaging provides an
illustration of this aspect of innovation-through-substraction. In France‚ where the rise of the
supermarket and pre-packaged food throughout the second half of the 20th century has du-
Lavenir                                                                                             130

rably shaped market mediations‚ the return of bulk selling brings to light the work performed
by food packaging (Ch. 10). To make up for the absence of packaging‚ consumers have to self-
serve and portion the food they buy‚ bring their own reusable packaging‚ wash it between two
store runs‚ and collect the nutritional and origin information that is usually displayed on the
packaging. By substracting prepackaging as well as salespeople‚ the modern bulk store makes
their work visible to the consumer‚ to whom it is handed down.
   Finally‚ innovation-through-substraction relies on the construction of categories. The de-
lineation between entities that are problematic‚ still-acceptable‚ and virtuous alternatives is
a typical exercise in political debate under the guise of technical planning. A comparison of
France‚ Brazil and Argentina on pesticide reduction policies illustrates that the same entity
can be problematized‚ defined‚ and categorized very differently depending on the actors in-
volved in its withdrawal (Ch. 7). In Brazil and Argentina‚ the preoccupation with pesticides
is driven by export requirements and productivity gains. This leads to the simultaneous use
of natural and chemical pesticides as well as intensive biotech research‚ leading to the creation
of the “bio-intrant” category. In France‚ the State’s ambition to curb pesticide use and tense
negotiations with agricultural actors has inspired the “biocontrol” category‚ which includes
chemicals that are classified as both not synthetic and not dangerous for the environment.
   Faire sans‚ faire avec moins successfully meets the challenge of expanding the framework
of innovation-through-substraction‚ significantly enriching its initial expression. In this in-
stance‚ the format of the case studies collection works well‚ as it allows the reader to confront
a ambitious theoretical frame with studies that test its limits and supplement its intuitions.
The case studies and their diversity are a strength of the book‚ but also a challenge for read-
ers who have to grapple with multiple and diverse topics that are sometimes very succintly
described. Nonetheless‚ each chapter contributes to the overall argument of the book‚ and
many are excellent STS case studies in their own right‚ with original concepts‚ thought-pro-
voking fieldwork‚ and a critical distance with the normative stances encountered in the field.
There is‚ perhaps‚ one area that calls for further research: the experience of users and consum-
ers with innovation-through-substraction. Some chapters engage with the topic‚ particularly
Chapter 3 on the trajectories of individuals with gluten-free diets. Nevertheless‚ an additional
focus on users‚ their cooperation and resistance to substraction processes‚ their own brico-
lages to substract problematic entities‚ or their alternatives to the “official” alternative would
further enrich the framework of innovation-through-substraction.


References

Akrich, Madeleine (1989) La construction d’un système socio-technique: Esquisse pour une anthropologie
   des techniques, in “Anthropologie et Sociétés”, 13(2), pp. 31‑54.
Akrich, Madeleine, Callon, Michel and Latour, Bruno (eds.) (2006) Sociologie de la traduction: Textes
   fondateurs, Paris‚ Presses des Mines.
Creager, Angela N. H. and Gaudillière, Jean Paul (eds.) (2021) Risk on the Table: Food Production,
   Health, and the Environment, New York, Berghahn Books.
Geels, Frank W. (2002) Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: A multi-level
131                                                                         Tecnoscienza. 2023. 14(2)

  perspective and a case-study‚ in “Research Policy”, 31(8-9), pp. 1257-1274.
Godin, Benoît, Gaglio, Gérald and Vinck, Dominique (eds.) (2021) Handbook on Alternative Theories of
  Innovation, Cheltenham (UK), Edward Elgar Publishing.
Goulet, Frédéric and Vinck, Dominique (2012) L’innovation par retrait: Contribution à une sociologie du
  détachement‚ in “Revue Française de Sociologie”, 53(2), pp. 195-224.
