James C. Scott's Domination and the Arts of Resistance | Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden...

an epiphany on every page | Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts | James C. Scott

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	• Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts James C. Scott Yale University Press, 1992 - 251 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not history -- political science but food for thought

I was recommended this book when I was at an academic conference recently. The first thing I want to note is this is not a book by a historian but by a professor of political science and anthropology but my view and critique will be from a historian view. The topic of the book is that everyone in a society maintains the social, legal and political hierarchies even when they believe they are challenging those inequalities. This is a relatively unarguable statement since we know that societies change very slowly in general and even violent uprising are not always successful. While Scott claims early on that he will cite ample evidence I was deeply disappointed by the lack of specific evidence in any large quantity. He'll cite a particular culture or event or period and go into some detail though he needs more primary evidence here. However from this particulars he jumps to generalizations. Generalizations may indeed be there but they require far more evidence from a wider range of cultures. I'm also not convinced that fictional sources should ever be preferred over other sources such as diaries or letters or speeches -- yes, those with less power will leave less behind but still I think there is enough material world wide to make a stronger case. Still the ideas were very well explained and I looked at some ancient and gender evidence anew in my own field.

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James C. Scott's Domination and the Arts of Resistance

Spanning the entire globe and covering over 1000 years of human history, James C. Scott's Domination and the Arts of Resistance is an intellectual odyssey into the relatively new field of subaltern studies. It is also an intellectual oasis for historians and general readers of history who have become disillusioned with the traditional historiography of power relations and resistance among dominate groups and subordinate groups. Indeed, Scott's use of folklore, speeches, ballads, literary theory,linguistics, and public ceremonies, e.g., parades and political rallies, greatly adds to the works of other innovative historians of culture, domination, and resistance, e.g., Scott gives the works of Michel Focault, Hayden White, Dominick LaCapra, and Natalie Zemon Davis, to name a few, new perspectives for cultural analysis. Perhaps of greater importance is Scott's examination of what he describes as "public" and "private" transcripts,i.e., dialogue among and between the dominate and subordinate groups. Furthermore, Scott puts great emphasis on the "infrastructure" of power relationships among the respective inner "communities" of theweak and the strong. In short, what goes on behind the scenes, away from the public eye, reveals the true nature of what Scott labels as "masks of power", which are, in effect, merely public performances designed to placate both dominate and subordinate groups. This absorbing work will certainly be influential for future generations of historians, anthroplogists, political scientists, and sociologists.

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an epiphany on every page

"When the great lord passes the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts." This book marks one of those moments for me when rethink just about everything...from elusidating certain truisms to hammering out theories and ideas that ring remarkably true, Scott's book is challenging, powerful, and engaging. Reading this book is like sitting in his office conversing...I find myself exclaiming and agreeing aloud. I really enjoy his comments on gender; a concept I have felt comfortable with for years, and suddenly I feel as though he has just clarified it for me. I have been doing double-takes as random comments about women in my primary sources (about fickleness of emotion) which I thought I could chalk up to typical misogyny begin to catagorize themselves in my mind as the effects of attempting to live within hidden and public transcripts. Very readable, interesting, engaging...in a word, fabulous.

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Serious, but accessible

I got "domination" for a class, which does not tend to bias me in favor of liking a book. However, I have tentatively enjoyed reading it. It is a serious, scholarly book, but the topic is engaging and the case studies and historical examples cited are always interesting. I think that the author supports his complex thesis very well, and I would recommend this book to people who want to read something serious about race and culture.

Confrontations between the powerless and the powerful are laden with deception - the powerless feign deference and the powerful subtly assert their mastery. Peasants, serfs, untouchables, slaves, labourers, 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, the author, a social scientist, offers a 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, the author examines the many guises this interaction has taken throughout history and the tensions and contradictions it reflects. The author describes the ideological resistance of subordinate groups - their gossip, folktales, songs, jokes, and theater - their use of anonymity and ambiguity. He also analyzes how ruling elites attempt to convey an impression of hegemony through such devices as parades, state ceremony, and rituals of subordination and apology. Finally he identifies - with quotations that range from the recollections of American slaves to those of Russian citizens during the beginnings of Gorbachev's glasnost campaign - the political electricity generated among oppressed groups when, for the first time, the hidden transcript is spoken directly and publicly in the face of power.

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