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Once the basic assumption of the superiority and attraction of fixed-field farming over all previous forms of subsistence is questioned, it becomes clear that this assumption itself rests on a deeper and more embedded assumption that is virtually never questioned. And that assumption is that sedentary life itself is superior to and more attractive than mobile forms of existence.

— James C. Scott Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (2017)

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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)

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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.