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"Seeing Like A State" is a superb book, but I'll always remember Scott for "The Art of Not Being Governed." I was a history major in college, and seeing history
by speckledben 2y ago
"Seeing Like A State" is a superb book, but I'll always remember Scott for "The Art of Not Being Governed." I was a history major in college, and seeing history from the point of view of non-state peoples was revelatory for a young student. I greatly enjoyed it, truly one of those experiences in life where my mind was opened and expanded in a new direction. I'll forever remember him for that, and be grateful for his contribution to my way of viewing the world.
- dbuxton 2y ago+1. I had simply never considered that one reason to not be a user of the dominant technology (writing, agriculture) was that adopting would mean losing control over one’s group’s destiny. Gives you a different lens on enterprise software adoption and implementation!
- pm3003 2y agoSeeing like a State sadly has some badly written chapters, including some of those not written by him. This makes the book quite a tedious read overall, alternating between deep analysis and highschool level history refresh. The Art of noy being governed is better in this regard.
- sriacha 2y agoInteresting, do you have a source of the chapters not written by him?