author : James C. Scott

Books

• Seeing Like a State. 1998
• Two Cheers for Anarchism. 2012
• Against the Grain. 2017

Books : reviews

James C. Scott.
Seeing Like a State: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed.
Yale University Press. 1998

Why have large-scale schemes to improve the human condition in the twentieth century so often gone awry? James C. Scott analyzes diverse failures in high-modernist, authoritarian state planning—collectivization in Russia, the building of Brasilia, compulsory ujamaa villages in Tanzania, and others—and uncovers conditions common to all such planning disasters. What these failures teach us, he argues, is that any centrally managed social plan must recognize the importance of local customs and practical knowledge if it hopes to succeed.

James C. Scott.
Two Cheers for Anarchism: six easy peaces on autonomy, dignity, and meaningful work and play.
Princeton University Press. 2012

Inspired by the core anarchist faith in the possibilities of voluntary co-operation without hierarchy, Two Cheers for Anarchism is an engaging, high-spirited, and often very funny defense of an anarchist way of seeing—one that provides a unique and powerful perspective on everything from everyday social and political interactions to mass protests and revolutions. Through a wide-ranging series of memorable anecdotes and examples, acclaimed social scientist James Scott describes an anarchist sensibility that celebrates the local knowledge, common sense, and creativity of ordinary people. The result is a kind of handbook on constructive anarchism that challenges us to radically reconsider the value of hierarchy in public and private life.

James C. Scott.
Against the Grain: a deep history of the earliest states.
Yale University Press. 2017

This landmark book explores the transition of early hunting-and-gathering societies into agricultural societies. By condensing today’s best archaeological and historical knowledge about early state formation and domestication, James C. Scott creates a new picture of how and why humans came to live in the great heaps of plants, animals, and microbes characteristic of agrarian state societies.