Customer Reviews

Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

"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.

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.

"... those people who are really good at what they do and yet are at the bottom of a management hierarchy have a power that no one else in the hierarchy has. They can't be demoted." Robert Glass, Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering.

Understanding and overcoming resistance is one of the tasks of a manager. A public performance (transcript) of the manager is different from an inner transcript and the same can be said about transcripts of engineers. I now recall that in one of my previous companies I worked for, a senior engineer was telling one recently hired junior colleague in a private setting (canteen) to always tell VP of Engineering how he loves the work. I recently became interested in analysis of managerial domination and of various forms of hidden resistance and stage performances of subordinates and internal pressures they experience. Doing my research I stumbled across this book on Amazon and bought it. The book is written in almost jargon free style and highly recommended as a stimulating and refreshing read to remind about additional perspectives on relations inside teams and engineering organizations, between customers and their relationship managers (inverse domination).

Thanks,
Dmitry Vostokov
Founder of Management Bits and Tips Blog

This book is a clear indication of the problems with modern historians: the tendency toward presumption and the discovery of common sense as if it were a new planet. Scott claims to understand the REAL story beneath ordinary daily discourses, going so far as to state that young inner city black men play a game that involves trading insults in order to "practice" reacting to racism in non-violent ways. How ridiculous!
Scott also attempts to prove his thesis by stating that alcohol sometimes plays a role in hidden transcripts becoming public. I suppose he hasn't had much experience with alcohol or those who have partaken of alcohol, else he would realize this is painfully obvious and not a groundbreaking revelation.
I give the book 2 stars because of its readability and the obvious effort put into the research. However, I cannot recommend it, for it is a perfect example of historians who spend too much time in the office, and not enough time in the real world.