Seeing Like a State
How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
by James C. Scott · first published 1998
47% recommend52% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Case studies like scientific forestry, planned cities and collectivized farming show how top-down schemes that reduce reality to measurable, legible data fail. Useful for managers, software people and policy readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Examines how (sometimes quasi-) authoritarian central planning fails to deliver the goods, be they increased resources for the state or a better life for the people.
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"Seeing Like a State" by James C. Scott I started my career in international development, and the book above provides a dozen case studies on states using scientific management, stats, etc. to try and control their growth/populations/economies…
on “Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?” ↗…common grazing land on which the trees had been planted. In two Nigerian projects, villagers cut all the planted non-fruit trees for firewood, while protecting those that bore fruit. Recommended reading: "Seeing Like A State" by James Scott. The first section on Scientific Forestry directly applies, and the rest of the book conceptually does too. In summary, the state seeks to render its resources and populace legible, because…
on “Phantom forests: Ambitious tree planting projects are failing” ↗If anyone is interested in this type of thing I would recommend reading ‘Seeing Like a State’ by James C. Scott. It is one of those books that makes a point so definitively that many articles on the topic could just be appended as examples. From Wikipedia: > The book catalogues schemes which…
on “Glasgow is trying to make urban living less miserable” ↗…legal name"; presumably some sovereign citizen nonsense infecting the UK over the Internet. Another essential piece of reading for names in the database context, and the idea of social "legibility", is Seeing like a State (see long review at https://crookedtimber.org/2007/10/31/delong-scott-and-hayek/ ). Also thinking of a certain South African industrialist who has recently given his child a name that is not only unpronounceable…
on “Names, Legal Names, and Fractally Deferred Responsibility” ↗The book Seeing Like a State referenced in the article is an amazing read: https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-like-State-Certain-Condition/d... Highly recommend, though glance at summary to confirm you'll enjoy / benefit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State
on “Seeing Like a Bank” ↗And "Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed" - http://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Like-State-Institution-Universi...
on “City Layout Design: A programmer's perspective” ↗For management, it's not really about the process du jour per se. It is about standardization, frameworks, and control. Read 'Seeing like a state' From Ruby Rogues 184 RR "JESSICA: Alright. So, I am going to echo one of Greg’s picks because it was on my list but for a different reason. ‘Seeing like a State’ is an amazing book. And I think it’s…
on “The Death of Agile [video]” ↗Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (read this one thrice) The Tao of Pooh Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗If you need a book to really drive that point home to someone, check out "Seeing Like A State" by James C. Scott.
on “Less stress, more productivity: working fewer hours is good for you and your boss” ↗If you want to follow this idea further, I highly recommend Scott's "Seeing Like a State." It's an analysis of how states exert power by imposing legibility--insisting on having access and to measuring in certain ways. His thesis is that this legibility is actively corrosive to other properties…
on “The New Preschool Is Crushing Kids (2016)” ↗I can recommend two authors: Nassim Taleb and James C Scott. In particular their books "Antifragile" and "Seeing Like A State" respectively.
on “Management by metrics leads us astray” ↗Seeing like a state is a terrific book. It's possible that I learned the idea of forest death from it rather than a college class.[1] The German word for it is waldsterben and there seem to be few English language resources…
on “Phantom forests: Ambitious tree planting projects are failing” ↗…interest in outcomes you find unexpected allies. Here is a good start: Volume 1: The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama Volume 2: Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama Seeing Like a State by James Scott Exit, Voice and Loyalty by Albert Hirschman The Problem of Political Authority by Michael Huemer The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joesph Tainter The majority of the time these authors…
on “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny” ↗…Michelle Alexander - Good To Great, Jim Collins - Abundance, Peter Diamandis - The Mystery Of Capital, Hernando De Soto - Pathologies Of Power, Paul Farmer - Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff - Seeing Like A State, James Scott - Ishmael, Daniel Quinn - Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Richard Feynman - Beyond Fear, Bruce Schneier - The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan - The Birth Of Plenty, William Bernstein
on “Ask HN: book suggestions in non-tech fields (e.g. psychology, philosophy…)” ↗This annotation: http://meta.genius.com/4127010 That picture of Bruges is from Seeing Like a State[1], which should be required reading for all managers. [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300078153/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...
on “The Genius ISMs” ↗