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James C. Scott

James C. Scott Books

Political Scientist

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“There may, of course, be no alternative to planning, especially when the urgency of a single goal, such as winning a war, seems to require the subordination of every other goal. The immanent logic of such an exercise, however, implies a degree of certainty about the future, about means-ends calculations, and about the meaning of human welfare that is truly heroic. That such plans have often had to be adjusted or abandoned is an indication of just how heroic are the assumptions behind them.”

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Book:Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
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“The petite bourgeoise and small property in general represent a precious zone of autonomy and freedom in state systems increasingly dominated by large public and private bureaucracies.”

LifeWorkFreedomCapitalismBureaucracyAutonomyPrivate SectorTrade UnionsPublic SectorPetite Bourgeoise
Book:Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity and Meaningful Work and Play
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“The more static, standardized, and uniform a population or social space is, the more legible it is, and the more amenable it is to the techniques of state officials. I am suggesting that many state activities aim at transforming the population, space, and nature under their jurisdiction into the closed systems that offer no surprises and that can best be observed and controlled.”

FreedomPowerAuthorityState
Book:Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
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“Where the utopian vision goes wrong is when it is held by ruling elites with no commitment to democracy or civil rights and who are therefore likely to use unbridled state power for its achievement. Where it goes brutally wrong is when the society subjected to such utopian experiments lacks the capacity to mount a determined resistance.”

DemocracySociety
Book:Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
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“Ethnicity and tribe began, by definition, where sovereignty and taxes ended. The ethnic zone was feared and stigmatized by state rhetoric precisely because it was beyond its grasp and therefore an example of defiance and an ever-present temptation to those who might wish to evade the state.”

TaxesCivil DisobedienceEthnicityStatismTribalismShatter Belt
Book:The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
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“Given a choice between patterns of subsistence that are relatively unfavorable to the cultivator but which yield a greater return in manpower or grain to the state and those patterns that benefit the cultivator but deprive the state, the ruler will choose the former every time. The ruler, then, maximizes the state-accessible product, if necessary, at the expense of the overall wealth of the realm and its subjects.”

EconomicsTaxationFree MarketCentralizationCentral Planning
Book:The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
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“I always believed that social science was a progressive profession because it was the powerful who had the most to hide about how the world actually worked and if you could show how the world actually worked it would always have a de-masking and a subversive effect on the powerful. I don't think that's quite true, but it seems to me it's not bad as a point of departure anyway.”

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Author:James C. Scott
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