Books by James C Scott
“I love Scott, he’s one of my favourite authors.” Read more...
The best books on Minority Survival in China
James Palmer, Foreign Correspondent
Seeing Like a State
by James C Scott
This is a book that talks about the perils and limitations of policy wonk hubris – the idea that we are capable of large-scale top-down designs on society to have specific effects. It goes through a number of cases, such as urban planning, where the most well-intended thoughtful interventions don’t lead to the desired effect and sometimes have exactly the opposite effect.
Seeing Like a State
by James C Scott
Scott thinks that the way that the state chooses to count, or the way it chooses to see, will inform how it behaves and what kind of animal it becomes.
Interviews where books by James C Scott were recommended
The best books on Climate Change Innovation, recommended by Roger Pielke Jr
Environmental studies professor Roger Pielke Jr says innovation and argument is the only way to reverse climate change.
The best books on Failed States, recommended by Clare Lockhart
The director of The Institute for State Effectiveness, Clare Lockhart, questions the role of the state and discusses the effects of failed states on both neighbouring and local populations. She picks the best books on failed states.
-
1
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
by Francis Fukuyama -
2
Seeing Like a State
by James C Scott -
3
The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics
by Edna Ernestine Kramer -
4
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams -
5
Finite and Infinite Games
by James Carse
The best books on How the World Works, recommended by Venkatesh Rao
The best books on How the World Works, recommended by Venkatesh Rao
Armed with one of the ‘big histories’ currently in vogue, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and a tome about how modern maths came to be, you too can get a grip on how the world works. Tech blogger Venkatesh Rao chooses some good books for those who agree with Socrates that ‘for a human being, the unexamined life is not worth living.’
-
1
The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
by James C Scott -
2
The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China
by Mark C Elliott -
3
Wolf Totem
by Jiang Rong -
4
The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History
by Rian Thum -
5
Forgotten Kingdom: Lijiang and the Naxi People
by Peter Goullart
The best books on Minority Survival in China, recommended by James Palmer
The best books on Minority Survival in China, recommended by James Palmer
China’s minority peoples have shaped the country’s history and its identity. They led its most successful dynasty, the Qing. But nowadays, their role has been reduced to that of tourist spectacle. Beijing-based writer James Palmer picks the best books on China’s ethnic minorities.
