Seeing Like a State：How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

CompulsoryujamaavillagesinTanzania,collectivizationinRussia,LeCorbusier'surbanplanningtheoryrealizedinBrasilia,theGreatLeapForwardinChina,agricultural"modernization"intheTropics--thetwentiethcenturyhasbeenrackedbygrandutopianschemesthathaveinadvertentlybroughtdeathanddisruptiontomillions.Whydowell-intentionedplansforimprovingthehumanconditiongotragicallyawry?Inthiswide-rangingandoriginalbook,JamesC.Scottanalyzesfailedcasesoflarge-scaleauthoritarianplansinavarietyoffields.Centrallymanagedsocialplansmisfire,Scottargues,whentheyimposeschematicvisionsthatdoviolencetocomplexinterdependenciesthatarenot--andcannot--befullyunderstood.Further,thesuccessofdesignsforsocialorganizationdependsupontherecognitionthatlocal,practicalknowledgeisasimportantasformal,epistemicknowledge.Theauthorbuildsapersuasivecaseagainst"developmenttheory"andimperialisticstateplanningthatdisregardsthevalues,desires,andobjectionsofitssubjects.Heidentifiesanddiscussesfourconditionscommontoallplanningdisasters:administrativeorderingofnatureandsocietybythestate;a"high-modernistideology"thatplacesconfidenceintheabilityofsciencetoimproveeveryaspectofhumanlife;awillingnesstouseauthoritarianstatepowertoeffectlarge-scaleinterventions;andaprostratecivilsocietythatcannoteffectivelyresistsuchplans."Abroad-ranging,theoreticallyimportant,andempiricallygroundedtreatmentofthemodernstateanditspropensitytosimplifyandmakelegibleasocietywhichbynatureiscomplexandopaque.Foranyoneinterestedinlearningaboutthisfundamentaltensionofmodernityandaboutthedestructionwroughtinthetwentiethcenturyasaconsequenceofthedominantdevelopmentideologyofthesimplifyingstate,thisisamust-read".--DanielJonahGoldhagen,authorofHitler'sWillingExecutioners