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Domination and the Arts of Resistance by James C. Scott

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Domination and the Arts of Resistance

Narrator
Alex Boyles
Publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Publish Date
7 January 2025
Run Time
10 hours 44 minutes
Format
Audiobook
$13.95

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What to expect

“A splendid study, surely one of the most important that has appeared on the whole matter of power and resistance.”—Natalie Zemon Davis

Confrontations between the powerless and powerful are laden with deception—the powerless feign deference and the powerful subtly assert their mastery. Peasants, serfs, untouchables, slaves, laborers, and prisoners are not free to speak their minds in the presence of power. These subordinate groups instead create a secret discourse that represents a critique of power spoken behind the backs of the dominant. At the same time, the powerful also develop a private dialogue about practices and goals of their rule that cannot be openly avowed.

In this book, renowned social scientist James C. Scott offers a penetrating discussion both of the public roles played by the powerful and powerless and the mocking, vengeful tone they display off stage—what he terms their public and hidden transcripts. Using examples from the literature, history, and politics of cultures around the world, Scott examines the many guises this interaction has taken throughout history and the tensions and contradictions it reflects.

Critics Review

  • “From his vantage point it is easy to see through many standard illusions of social science…An example of how rich and fascinating such hidden transcripts can be by comparison with the rhetoric of pretence.”

    Times Literary Supplement (London)

  • “A classic work of theory in the social sciences and history. Its arguments are original, subtle, clear, and accessible to readers without theoretical inclinations.”

    Journal of Asian Studies

  • “Scott’s central innovation in this work is his distinction between public transcripts…and hidden transcripts…An important contribution to the study of the politics and lived experience of power.”

    Political Theory

  • “An amazingly prodigious, sophisticated book.”

    American Quarterly

See more reviews
  • “A major contribution to the study of social and political change.”

    Choice

  • “Advanc[es] scholarship and produc[es] interesting, even fascinating, insights and other provocations.”

    Indochina Chronology

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Details

Author
James C. Scott
Narrator
Alex Boyles
Duration
10 hours 44 minutes
Release Date
7 January 2025
ISBN
9798228017696
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Genre
Politics and government, Political control and freedoms, Society and culture: general, Social and cultural anthropology, Violence and abuse in society

Synopsis

“A splendid study, surely one of the most important that has appeared on the whole matter of power and resistance.”—Natalie Zemon DavisConfrontations between the powerless and powerful are laden with deception—the powerless feign deference and the powerful subtly assert their mastery. Peasants, serfs, untouchables, slaves, laborers, and prisoners are not free to speak their minds in the presence of power. These subordinate groups instead create a secret discourse that represents a critique of power spoken behind the backs of the dominant. At the same time, the powerful also develop a private dialogue about practices and goals of their rule that cannot be openly avowed.In this book, renowned social scientist James C. Scott offers a penetrating discussion both of the public roles played by the powerful and powerless and the mocking, vengeful tone they display off stage—what he terms their public and hidden transcripts. Using examples from the literature, history, and politics of cultures around the world, Scott examines the many guises this interaction has taken throughout history and the tensions and contradictions it reflects.

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