Description
Book SynopsisJames C. Scott has researched and written on subaltern groups, and, in particular, peasants, rebellion, resistance, and agriculture, for over 35 years. Yet much of Scott's most interesting work on the peasantry and the state, both conceptually and empirically, has never been published in book form. For the first time Decoding Subaltern Politics: Ideology, Disguise, and Resistance in Agrarian Politics, brings together some of his most important work in one volume.
The book covers three distinct yet interlinked bodies of work. The first lays out a framework for understanding peasant politics and rebellion, much of which is applicable to rural areas of the contemporary global south. Scott then goes on to develop his arguments regarding everyday forms of peasant resistance using the comparative example of the religious tithe in France and Malaysia, and tracing the forms of resistance that cover their own tracks and avoid direct clashes with authorities. For much o
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. The "Way" Of Peasant Politics 3. Themes Of Peasant Politics; Localism, Syncretism, Profanation 4. Modes Of Dissimulation: The Infra-Politics Of Subordinate Groups 5. Dissimulation In Practice: Resistance To The Tithe In France And Malaysia—Below The Radar 6. The State’s Grip On The Vernacular World 7. The Production Of Legal Identities Proper To The State: The Case Of The Permanent Family Surname
