Here, in against the grain, scott is highlighting how, despite the lens our standard history gives us, sedentary states were in a world where state power proclaims itself to be and sometimes really seems allpervading and inescapable, scott writes these gently enthusiastic, provocative books about the limits and drawbacks of the state. Scott, sterling professor of political science and codirector of the agrarian studies program yale university press james c. Against the grain is the latest book by scott, whose earlier works have studied modern states and the means by which the poor and powerless have fought back within them. Second, fascist isnt quite the right aspersion to use here. Scott in against the grain doesnt ask what for her is the biggest question of all. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the. Scott, were born of accumulations of domestications. George monbiot, guardian against the grain delivers what is says on the tin and is a fine piece of historical counternarrative. The new york times described his research as highly influential and. A deep history of the earliest states new haven, ct. His primary research has centered on peasants of southeast asia and their strategies of resistance to various forms of domination. Against the grain is a significant addition to it, as scott issues the challenge of an antiauthoritarian approach to our political origins crispin sartwell, times literary supplement. Discover more authors youll love listening to on audible. In this book, he aims to synthesize recent research on domestication, sedentism, and state formation, taking as examples mesopotamia, egypt, and china.
How agriculture has hijacked civilization paperback 9 may 2005. Scott contributes to his longstanding intellectual project of reevaluating the role of the state in political thought by looking at the development of the early agrarian states to challenge narratives of progress founded on state formation. In fact scott does address, at some length, the second of these questions. In the preface, scott includes manning in a long list of people who had inspired him. Scott published an important book called against the grain. The frequent collapses of early states were often a welcome respite for early. Walter scheidel, financial times an economist best history book 2017 fascinating. His research concerns political economy, comparative agrarian societies, theories of hegemony and resistance, peasant politics, revolution, southeast. Scott s oeuvre is among the most important in contemporary political theory. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library.
An account of all the new and surprising evidence now available for the beginnings of the earliest civilizations that contradict the standard narrative. A deep history of the earliest states by james c scott online at alibris. Scott that sets out to undermine what he calls the standard civilizational narrative that suggests humans chose to live settled lives based on intensive agriculture because this made people safer and more prosperous. A deep history of the earliest states, scott makes his case by tracing, step by unholy step. Four domestications is a free pdf download, the 48page text of a lecture scott gave at harvard. While acknowledging that a number of objections can be raised against the historical. Scott book, and so far it is the most interesting nonfiction read of the year i am about halfway through. Regular readers will know that this has been a longstanding area of research. Once in a while a book comes along that so radically shifts your perspective and ways of thinking about a complex subject that it can only be called breathtaking. Published with assistance from the foundation established in memory of. Though i am a cardcarrying political scientist and an. While acknowledging that a number of objections can be raised. Note that a new book by james scott was published in august 2017 with the same title and a significant overlap in subject material.
Scotts oeuvre is among the most important in contemporary political theory. Scott is an eminent and iconoclastic political scientist. Instead, he argues, people had to be forced to live in the early states, which were. Scott, a professor of political science at yale, presents a plausible contender for the most important piece of.
Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains, and governed. Against the grain book more libraries bibliocommons. In a provocative new book, against the grain, scott now challenges us to rethink legends about the state and its origins. The new york times described his research as highly influential. Against the grain, james c scott shop online for books. A deep history of the earliest states, yale university press, new haven, 2017. James scott taught us whats wrong with seeing like a state. You can think of it as an extended essay on which technologies actually gave rise to economies of scale, expressed through governance but not only. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative. Against the grain a deep history of the earliest states 2017, by yale agrarian studies professor james c. Scott london school of economics so why did they do it. Scott born december 2, 1936 is an american political scientist and anthropologist. He is a comparative scholar of agrarian and nonstate societies, subaltern politics, and anarchism. His book, against the grain a deep history of the earliest states, 2017, takes a jaundiced look at sedentism the staying put that initially gave rise to urban culture and that would.
Against the grain a deep history of the earliest states book. Scott, sterling professor of political science and codirector of the agrarian studies program yale university press. Jacob levy, reason the story of a complex pattern of grain agriculture, early states, forced labor, and the extraction of surplus, and how all of these things were connected in ways that researchers previously never. A deep history of the earliest states is a 2017 book by james c. We dont give the technology of fire enough credit, scott suggests, because we dont give our ancestors much credit for their ingenuity over the long. Scott hits the nail squarely on the head by exposing the staggering price our ancestors paid for civilisation and political order. A deep history of the earliest states 1 by scott, james c. Scott, a professor of political science at yale, presents a plausible contender for the most important piece of technology in the history of man. For example, by about 10,000 bce, small human communities had begun to form, domesticating plants and animals, irrigating crops, and growing some of their own food. That is a question that nobody know the answer to, but it appears they stumbled into not because it was a better way of life, but due to some sort of pressures beyond their control. Scott tells a somewhat different story that will challenge everything youve been taught about ancient history. Someone on ssc discord summarized james scotts against the grain as basically 300 pages of calling wheat a fascist. Scott goes further, and further back, to argue that civilization, in its earliest forms, wasnt necessarily much of an improvement on barbarity. During my long discursion on the history of money, the academic james c.