The Art of Escaping Rule (Revised Version)

The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia

Drawing on the history of Southeast Asia's mountainous regions, the author argues that states have consistently sought to concentrate mountain dwellers on the plains for rice cultivation, while mountain dwellers have resorted to various means to evade state control. Traditionally, mountain dwellers have been viewed as backward and barbaric, while the extension of state power to these regions has been seen as a catalyst for progress. However, Scott's research into the region's history reveals that seemingly backward mountain minorities may not be so backward. Their inhabitation of the mountains and their adoption of a different lifestyle and production style from those in the valleys stem from a desire to escape state control.
The author points out that his opponent in discussion is the French scholar Braudel, because in Braudel's view, civilization and state are often confused, while the author emphasizes that there is the same civilization outside the scope of state rule.
James Scott is a leading figure in the study of peasantry in American anthropology. His book, The Moral Economy of the Peasant, received widespread attention upon its publication; his books, Weapons of the Weak and The Perspective of the State, have also had a profound impact on academic research and policymaking. Currently the Sterling Professor of Political Science and Anthropology at Yale University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he directs the "Agricultural Research" program, a high-level, transnational postdoctoral fellowship program that has been running for nearly 20 years.
【recommend】
This work is perhaps James Scott's most important to date. It is profoundly insightful, creative, and compassionate. Few scholars have been more perceptive about the agency of people without history, inhabiting radically different places, and employing radically different practices and forms. Indeed, it brings him very close to the anarchist ideal that people can not only escape the state but also avoid the state form itself.
—Prasenjit Duara
This is a brilliant study, rich in humanistic and cultural insight, a book that will change the way readers think about human history and about themselves. It is the most engaging and stimulating work of social history and political theory that I have ever read.
—Robert Hefner

2019-09-01

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