James C. Scott

An Economist Best History Book 2017 “History as it should be written.” — Barry Cunliffe, Guardian “Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civilization and political order.” — Walter Scheidel, Financial Times Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains, and governed...

“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review "A powerful, and in many insightful, explanation as to why grandiose programs of social reform, not to mention revolution, so often end in tragedy... An important critique of visionary state planning."—Robert Heilbroner, Lingua Franca Hailed as...

James Scott taught us what's wrong with seeing like a state. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the case for seeing like an anarchist. Inspired by the core anarchist faith in the possibilities of voluntary cooperation without hierarchy, Two Cheers for Anarchism is an engaging, high-spirited, and often very funny defense...

James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit. Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they can teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural...

From the acclaimed author and scholar James C. Scott, the compelling tale of Asian peoples who until recently have stemmed the vast tide of state-making to live at arm’s length from any organised state society. For two thousand years, the disparate groups that now reside in Zomia (a mountainous region the size of Europe that consists of portions of seven...

Confrontations between the powerless and the powerful are laden with deception—the powerless feign deference, and the powerful subtly assert their mastery. Peasants, serfs, untouchables, slaves, labourers, and prisoners are not free to speak their minds in the presence of power. These subordinate groups instead create a secret discourse that represents a critique of power spoken behind the backs of the...

“Splendid . . . Combines the readability of Akenfield or Pig Earth with an accessible and illuminating theoretical commentary.”—A.F. Robertson, Times Higher Education Supplement “Weapons of the Weak is a brilliant book, combining a sure feel for the subjective side of struggle with a deft handling of economic and political trends.”—John R. Bowen, Journal of Peasant Studies “No one who...

James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit. A New Yorker Best Book of the Year "Informative, enjoyable, and provocative. . . . Scott's [prose] is dry, clear, and scalding with moral purpose." - Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post In Praise of Floods presents rivers, on a long view,...

One of the world's most widely read social scientists (New York Times) offers his most personal and accessible book, a celebration of how ordinary people can resist oppression and injustice. James Scott taught us what's wrong with seeing like a state. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the case for seeing...