Skip to content

Those who do not have access to scientific methods and laboratory verification have often relied on metis to develop rich knowledge systems that are remarkably accurate. Traditional navigation skills before the eras of sextants, magnetic compasses, charts, and sonar are a case in point.

— James C. Scott Seeing Like a State (1997)

Another quote →

More quotes by James C. Scott

Changing the rules of regulations is simpler than eliciting the behavior that conforms to them.

Seeing Like a State (1997)

An illegible society, then, is a hindrance to any effective intervention by the state, whether the purpose of that intervention is plunder or public welfare.

Seeing Like a State (1997)

We miniaturize, and thereby domesticate, the larger phenomena that are outside our control, often with benign intentions.

Seeing Like a State (1997)

As we shall see with urban planning, revolutionary theory, collectivization, and rural resettlement, a whole world lying "outside the brackets" returned to haunt this technical vision.

Seeing Like a State (1997)

Redesigning the physical layout of a village is simpler than transforming its social and productive life. For obvious reasons, political elites–particularly authoritarian high-modernist elites–typically begin with the changes in the formal structure and rules.

Seeing Like a State (1997)

All James C. Scott quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James C. Scott (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.