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2 episodes with grain a deep history
2 episodes with grain a deep history
2 episodes with grain a deep history
2 episodes with grain a deep history
2 episodes with grain a deep history
Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos by: Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by: James C. Scott This post represents a new feature (experiment?) I plan to occasionally write posts which take advantage of one or more books I read recently, but which aren't actually reviews of those books. See, for example, my last post: Superminds, States, and the Domestication of Humans. Despite the fact that the books feature heavily in these posts, I assume my adoring fans still want actual reviews. But it doesn't make sense to wait until the next book review collection for those reviews to appear, nor does it make sense to cram the reviews into the original essay which was about something else. And so I thought that instead I would have the reviews quickly follow the essay as sort of supplementary material. So that's what this is. Let me know what you think.
In one of his final extended interviews, which was recorded three years before his recent death, the late anthropologist James C. Scott and Yascha Mounk discuss the need to be vigilant about the ways in which states do violence to individuals and societies. James C. Scott was the Sterling professor of political science and anthropology at Yale University. Scott is the author of major works including Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed and Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and James Scott discuss whether we ought to give "two cheers" for anarchism, why the state is here to stay, and the ongoing crisis in Myanmar. This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: podcast@persuasion.community Website: http://www.persuasion.community Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion Youtube: Yascha Mounk LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of History 102, join WhatIfAltHists creator Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg as they explore the intricate history of Mesopotamia. This episode dives into the origins, advancements, and eventual decline of one of the world's earliest civilizations, covering everything from early agriculture to the prominent empires and their societal structures.
Andrew L. Wilson is an Author and Professor of History of Christianity as well as host of The Disentanglement Podcast, exploring privacy tech and the surveillance state. We discuss in detail severals books about the origin of the state and money, including James C Scott's, “Seeing Like A State”, Rees-Mogg and Davidson's “The Sovereign Individual”, and David Graeber's “Debt: The First 5,000 Years”. We discover some interesting parallels between the unconfiscatable nature of Bitcoin and the origins of state power with its ability to tax easily countable grain crops versus something like a potato which grows underground. We also talk about the history of the printing press as it relates to inflation within the church, and Andrew's personal proof of work undertaking a 1000-mile pilgrimage in the footsteps of Martin Luther from Germany to Rome. Connect with The Transformation of Value Follow me on twitter at https://x.com/TTOVpodcast Nostr at: npub1uth29ygt090fe640skhc8l34d9s7xlwj4frxs2esezt7n6d64nwsqcmmmu Or send an email to hello@thetransformationofvalue.com and I will get back to you! Support this show: Bitcoin donation address: bc1qlfcr2v73tntt6wvyp2yu064egvyeery6xtwy8t Lightning donation address: codyellingham@getalby.com PayNym: +steepvoice938 PayNym Code: PM8TJhcUCtSvHe69sod9pzLCBKg6GaogsMDwfGNCnL4HXyduiY9pbLpbn3oEUvuM75EeALxRVV3Mfi6kgWEBsseMki3QphE8aC5QDMNp9pUugqfz1yVc Geyser Fund If you send a donation please email or DM me so I can thank you! Links: Here I Walk: A Thousand Miles on Foot to Rome with Martin Luther Andrew L. Wilson - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28280211-here-i-walk The Disentanglement Podcast - https://podcastindex.org/podcast/5245113 libgen.is - The Pirate Bay for literature The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature by Gilbert Highet - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1731808.The_Classical_Tradition Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. Scott - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20186.Seeing_Like_a_State Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34324534-against-the-grain A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. , - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164154.A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson & William Rees-Mogg - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/82256.The_Sovereign_Individual The Network State - https://thenetworkstate.com/ e-Residency of Estonia - https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/ Mother Earth Mother Board by Neal Stephenson - https://archive.is/19Msi
In this episode of the More Freedom Foundation Podcast, join hosts Rob and Ruairi as they delve into the thought-provoking book 'Against the Grain – A Deep History of the Earliest States' by James C. Scott. Explore the fascinating world of early human societies, the rise of states, and the profound insights offered by Scott's work. Discover how this groundbreaking book challenges conventional wisdom about the origins of civilization and offers fresh perspectives on the complex interplay between human communities and the state. Tune in for a stimulating discussion that pushes the boundaries of historical understanding and explores the enduring quest for freedom in the face of evolving societies. - Patreon Website Books Twitter TikTok
In 2013, the Journal of Burma Studies published an article titled “An Introduction to Wa Studies.” It seems that even within the last decade the Wa, an upland people living predominantly on what is today the Burma-China frontier, still needed to be introduced to other scholars of the region. Magnus Fiskesjö, the article's author, began with the caveat that it was by no means complete and was intended only by way of brief introduction. But the article held out the promise of more, and now its author has delivered, with Stories from an Ancient Land: Perspectives on Wa History and Culture (Berghahn, 2021). In this episode, Magnus joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to discuss everything from rice beer to silver mining, opium production and warfare, the tension between the Wa egalitarian ethos and practices of slave holding, and the present and possible future conditions for a people on the periphery of mainland Southeast Asia in an age of intolerant ethno-nationalism. Like this interview? If so you might also be interested in: Holly High, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village Jane Ferguson, Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand and a Nation-State Deferred James C. Scott, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States Nick Cheesman is Associate Professor, Department of Political & Social Change, Australian National University and Senior Fellow, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo (Fall 2022). He hosts the New Books in Interpretive Political & Social Science series on the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies
In 2013, the Journal of Burma Studies published an article titled “An Introduction to Wa Studies.” It seems that even within the last decade the Wa, an upland people living predominantly on what is today the Burma-China frontier, still needed to be introduced to other scholars of the region. Magnus Fiskesjö, the article's author, began with the caveat that it was by no means complete and was intended only by way of brief introduction. But the article held out the promise of more, and now its author has delivered, with Stories from an Ancient Land: Perspectives on Wa History and Culture (Berghahn, 2021). In this episode, Magnus joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to discuss everything from rice beer to silver mining, opium production and warfare, the tension between the Wa egalitarian ethos and practices of slave holding, and the present and possible future conditions for a people on the periphery of mainland Southeast Asia in an age of intolerant ethno-nationalism. Like this interview? If so you might also be interested in: Holly High, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village Jane Ferguson, Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand and a Nation-State Deferred James C. Scott, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States Nick Cheesman is Associate Professor, Department of Political & Social Change, Australian National University and Senior Fellow, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo (Fall 2022). He hosts the New Books in Interpretive Political & Social Science series on the New Books Network. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/southeast-asian-studies
In 2013, the Journal of Burma Studies published an article titled “An Introduction to Wa Studies.” It seems that even within the last decade the Wa, an upland people living predominantly on what is today the Burma-China frontier, still needed to be introduced to other scholars of the region. Magnus Fiskesjö, the article's author, began with the caveat that it was by no means complete and was intended only by way of brief introduction. But the article held out the promise of more, and now its author has delivered, with Stories from an Ancient Land: Perspectives on Wa History and Culture (Berghahn, 2021). In this episode, Magnus joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to discuss everything from rice beer to silver mining, opium production and warfare, the tension between the Wa egalitarian ethos and practices of slave holding, and the present and possible future conditions for a people on the periphery of mainland Southeast Asia in an age of intolerant ethno-nationalism. Like this interview? If so you might also be interested in: Holly High, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village Jane Ferguson, Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand and a Nation-State Deferred James C. Scott, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States Nick Cheesman is Associate Professor, Department of Political & Social Change, Australian National University and Senior Fellow, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo (Fall 2022). He hosts the New Books in Interpretive Political & Social Science series on the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology
In 2013, the Journal of Burma Studies published an article titled “An Introduction to Wa Studies.” It seems that even within the last decade the Wa, an upland people living predominantly on what is today the Burma-China frontier, still needed to be introduced to other scholars of the region. Magnus Fiskesjö, the article's author, began with the caveat that it was by no means complete and was intended only by way of brief introduction. But the article held out the promise of more, and now its author has delivered, with Stories from an Ancient Land: Perspectives on Wa History and Culture (Berghahn, 2021). In this episode, Magnus joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to discuss everything from rice beer to silver mining, opium production and warfare, the tension between the Wa egalitarian ethos and practices of slave holding, and the present and possible future conditions for a people on the periphery of mainland Southeast Asia in an age of intolerant ethno-nationalism. Like this interview? If so you might also be interested in: Holly High, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village Jane Ferguson, Repossessing Shanland: Myanmar, Thailand and a Nation-State Deferred James C. Scott, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States Nick Cheesman is Associate Professor, Department of Political & Social Change, Australian National University and Senior Fellow, Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University at Buffalo (Fall 2022). He hosts the New Books in Interpretive Political & Social Science series on the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies
“The earth's biodiversity depends [very directly] on its human diversity.” - Stephen CorryIn this episode I chat with Stephen Corry, the former director of Survival International, a global organization that supports indigenous peoples in their struggles against colonialism. We talk about why the organization is important, and how it relates directly to rewilding. Stephen discusses the central myths of civilization and the prejudices that it generates in order to justify its destruction of tribal people. In the end our conversation lands on the problematic aspects of conservation, and the challenges that members of Survival International have faced in this work. Please support the podcast by donating to my patreon. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review on apple podcasts and other podcast directories. Thanks for listening. Links:Survival Internationalhttps://www.survivalinternational.org/Stephen's Book:Tribal Peoples for Tomorrow's WorldStephen's Twitter:@StephenCorrySvl• New report details indigenous struggle for land rights• Savaging Primitives: Why Jared Diamond's “The World Until Yesterday” is Completely Wrong• Why Steven Pinker, Like Jared Diamond, Is Wrong• The Fierce Anthropologist• Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott• Who was Ötzi?• Sahlins resigns from NAS as Chagnon enters• The Great Dance; a Hunter's Story• The Big Conservation Lie• WWF Funds Guards Who Have Tortured And Killed People• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn• Willamette; The Valley of an 8,000 Year Old CulturePhoto Credit: Gleilson Miranda / Governo do AcreSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/petermichaelbauer)
This episode reviews - Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott Publisher: Yale University Press, 2017 Print length 336 pages Website: politicalscience.yale.edu/people/james-scott A transcript of this review is at volumesofvalue.blogspot.com.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that we are always in an age of crisis. Whether this entails more apocalyptic tendencies or more tempered framings, crisis seems to be a constant companion throughout human history. At present, crises abound regarding climate change, exploitation of land, and soil degradation. We’re seeing major cracks in political economies, many of which stem from misguided cultural paradigms. With an industrialized global economy based on fossil fuels and an ethos that disregards limits, we find ourselves in an unsustainable present, with what is becoming an increasingly likely catastrophic future. Most people agree that we can’t continue along the same trajectory we're currently on. Yet, many attempts to forestall the further collapse of prevailing systems appear insufficient for the tasks at hand. What will it take to shift toward more egalitarian and low-carbon societies? Is it possible for global supply chains to be ecologically sustainable and ethically justifiable? What negative impacts do global and industrialized political economies have regarding personal autonomy, spiritual fulfillment, community connectedness, and ecological conviviality? When should we practice skepticism toward centralized and tech-optimist solutions to our many crises? Jeffrey Howard speaks with Chris Smaje, a farmer and social scientist that has coworked a small farm in southwest England for more than 15 years. In his new book, A Small Farm Future (2020), he argues that societies built around local economies, self-provisioning, agricultural diversity, and commoning of certain ecological resources are our best shot for creating a sustainable future—in terms of the ecological, nutritional, and psychosocial. In this small farm future, Smaje doesn’t imply that there will be no place for large farms or industrialization. Similarly, he doesn’t propose this vision as a panacea for all our problems nor as a utopia looking backward toward a romanticized past. There will be trade-offs. Difficult ones. He offers a melioristic way forward, believing that ecological and moral limits are going to force our hand, compelling us to consider more radical alternatives than the status quo allows. A Small Farm Future advances a surprising amount of optimism despite how much dominant systems are not only showing signs of significant breakdown—made more pronounced by the COVID pandemic—but suggesting their likely collapse. Whether or not the types of collapse Smaje discusses actually happen in the ways he anticipates, he believes that the earth’s population will be better off if we shift toward small-holding property ownership, oriented around place-based communities and local economies. Several questions worth contemplating. In what ways does scaling up systems make us less able to deal with crises effectively? What advantages do permaculture and regenerative agriculture have over large-scale, monocultural approaches? What are some politically feasible ways to make land access more egalitarian? And what trade-offs might we have to make in moving toward a small farm future? Show Notes A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity, and a Shared Earth by Chris Smaje (2021) Degrowth by Giorgos Kallis (2018) Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care by Giorgos Kallis (2019) Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel (2021) Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on Land by Leah Penniman (2018) Smallholders, Householders: Farm Families and the Ecology of Intensive, Sustainable Agriculture by Robert McC. Netting (1993) Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power, and the Hidden Battle for the World’s Food System by Raj Patel (2007) Peasants and the Art of Farming by Jan Douwe van der Ploeg (2013) Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James Scott (2017) Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia by Steven Stoll (2017) A Small Farm Future blog by Chris Smaje
“I don't worry too much about collapse anymore because I trust in the process.” — Peter Michael Bauer Today's episode tackles that big question: can you think about the end of civilization AND still be an optimist?
Esta semana voltamos a um tema querido do Sobretudo, com um convidado popular com quem completámos a conversa que tivemos no primeiro episódio desta temporada do Sobretudo. Revisitamos o Homo Sapiens e voltei a falar com Rui Diogo sobre o seu trabalho fascinante que conjuga a antropologia e a biologia para olhar para o humano e para os nossos hábitos sociais com um novo olhar. Se na primeira parte falámos sobre o humano enquanto ser biológico individual, regressámos ao tema para discutir o Homo Socialis e os nossos hábitos de vida em sociedade, mas também de organização política e laboral. Falamos de qualidade de vida, da origem das conspirações e do preço que pagamos pelo conforto de uma vida em sociedade. Deixo aqui alguns dos recursos mencionados ao longo da conversa: Documentário France 24 sobre os Kibbutz: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20200918-israel-what-s-left-of-the-utopian-ideal-of-the-kibbutz Earthlings: http://www.nationearth.com/ Against the Grain, de James C. Scott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Grain:_A_Deep_History_of_the_Earliest_States Já agora, a conversa que o Rui gravou logo depois do Sobretudo para o Smithsonian Institute: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/are-humans-naturally-good-or-bad E o link para o livro ainda não publicado de que ele fala várias vezes no episódio: https://www.amazon.com/Misleading-Quests-Purpose-Life-Why-Questions/dp/3319704001 :::::: Este é o último episódio da segunda temporada do Sobretudo. É agora tempo de por toda a energia do PODES 2020, o primeiro festival de podcasts português, que verá a segunda edição de 2 a 8 de Novembro em Lisboa. O Sobretudo regressa no início de 2021, obrigado pelos ouvidos, pela atenção e pelo carinho. Tem sido um prazer e continuará a ser no próximo ano. Abraço e Feliz Ano Novo! :::::: Subscreve o Sobretudo e segue-nos no twitter, facebook e instagram como @sobretudocast.Ouve o Sobretudo no Spotify e na tua aplicação de podcasts ou mesmo no site, onde podes encontrar todos os episódios: podcastsobretudo.pt Agora também já podes apoiar o Sobretudo de diferentes maneiras. Muito obrigado ao Diogo Constantino pelo apoio como mecenas do Sobretudo.Visita o Clube Amigos do Sobretudo para te tornares também mecenas e ajudar o Sobretudo a crescer. O Sobretudo é um projecto de Márcio Barcelos e o genérico é dos Cayena.
Recently, CJ got a chance to speak with Pete Quinones, host of the Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast, about a new documentary film he was involved with making -- The Monopoly on Violence -- a film which explores the history and characteristics of the state as an institution, the problems it creates, and criticisms & alternatives to it, from a libertarian anarchist perspective. (This film features commentary from many of the leading anti-statist intellectuals of today, including James C. Scott, Thaddeus Russell, Scott Horton, Jeff Deist, Tom Woods, Michael Huemer, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Tom Woods, Dave Smith, & many more! Join Pete & CJ as they discuss the making and content of The Monopoly on Violence. Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon, SubscribeStar, or Bitbacker. CJ's official DHP Amazon Wish List Other ways to support the show The Dangerous History Podcast is a member of the Recorded History Podcast Network, the Dark Myths Podcast Collective & LRN.fm's podcast roster. External Links The Monopoly on Violence Free Man Beyond the Wall (Pete's podcast) CJ's Picks: Amazon Affiliate Links The Kids Are Not Alright: A Meme Enhanced Primer On Encroaching Marxism In The West by Mance Rayder/Pete Quinones Freedom Through Memedom: The 31-Day Guide to Waking Up to Liberty by Mance Rayder/Pete Quinones The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia by James C. Scott Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey by Michael Huemer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pete Quinones talks about his new project, The Monopoly on Violence, a documentary featuring interviews with many prominent figures in the libertarian and anarchist movements. The film explores the history of both statism and anarchism, explaining the nature of government as the only entity with a monopoly on the legal use of force, and advocates alternatives to this barbaric system. You can watch now on YouTube, and soon the documentary will be available on Amazon and Netflix. Discussed on the show: “The Monopoly On Violence” (YouTube) Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism 2nd edition by David D. Friedman (1989) Paperback Pete Quinones is managing editor of the Libertarian Institute and hosts the Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast. He is the author of Freedom Through Memedom: The 31-Day Guide to Waking Up to Liberty and is co-producing the documentary, The Monopoly On Violence. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com. Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMddMuC2rIs The following is an automatically generated transcript. Show TranscriptScott Horton 0:10 All right, shall welcome and Scott Horton show. I am the director of the libertarian Institute editorial director of anti war calm, author of the book fool's errand, time to end the war in Afghanistan. And I've recorded more than 5000 interviews going back to 2003, all of which are available at scotthorton.org dot org. You can also sign up to the podcast feed full archive is also available@youtube.com slash Scott Horton show. Aren't you guys on the line? I've got Pete Quinones. And he is the managing editor of the libertarian Institute. He also put out the books that kids are not all right. And freedom through mean dumb and he is one of the producers of this new documentary. I think you'll really like It's called the monopoly on violence. Welcome back to the show Pete How you doing? Pete Quinones 1:07 Good to be with you, Scott and doing well. Scott Horton 1:09 Pete I don't think you've written any blog entries about the movie or articles kind of explaining debuting the movie for the institute since it came out. Pete Quinones 1:19 What I'm waiting to do is the version of it that we put on YouTube has some has some flaws in it, audio level here and there. But it was just one of those things where everything that was happening in the world with the riots and everything we were just like, let's get this out there and see what people think we've only had like 10 people, including yourself, say anything about you know what was in it, and you know, and or audio levels, or maybe a vocal gets clipped somewhere. So what out I was gonna wait until we're prepping it. Now to upload to Amazon and when you upload it to Amazon, it has to be perfect. So that's what we're doing right now we're re recording a couple of the narration parts. And then we're going to send it to a guy who is going to professional audio guy who is going to level everything out the sound is going to be perfect. And then that's what I was gonna start talking about it on the inside. Scott Horton 2:21 Okay, so it's, it's open. The store is open now, but it's the grand opening is coming up here, and that's when we're going to make a real big deal about it. Okay. Pete Quinones 2:30 Yeah, that that. That's actually a really good analogy. Scott Horton 2:34 All right, good. Yeah. So let me read a little bit here from the description on YouTube. It says,
Pete Quinones talks about his new project, The Monopoly on Violence, a documentary featuring interviews with many prominent figures in the libertarian and anarchist movements. The film explores the history of both statism and anarchism, explaining the nature of government as the only entity with a monopoly on the legal use of force, and advocates alternatives to this barbaric system. You can watch now on YouTube, and soon the documentary will be available on Amazon and Netflix. Discussed on the show: “The Monopoly On Violence” (YouTube) Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism 2nd edition by David D. Friedman (1989) Paperback Pete Quinones is managing editor of the Libertarian Institute and hosts the Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast. He is the author of Freedom Through Memedom: The 31-Day Guide to Waking Up to Liberty and is co-producing the documentary, The Monopoly On Violence. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com. Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.
Peter Gray, Ph.D., a research professor at Boston College, has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology. His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play, concepts discussed in his book, Free to Learn. Dr. Gray is also president of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow. On this podcast, Dr. Gray draws evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history to argue that we must entrust children to steer their own learning and development. He shares the story of his own son’s behavioural difficulties, which led the family to explore alternatives to traditional education. He also describes his own research on the long-term outcomes of children who are unschooled and addresses some of the main concerns parents have about informal education. Here’s the outline of this interview with Peter Gray: [00:00:10] Book: Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, by Peter Gray. [00:00:44] The story of Peter’s son, Scott. [00:04:40] Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA. [00:12:42] Podcast: How to Support Childhood Cognitive Development, with Josh Turknett, MD. [00:13:13] Education in hunter gatherer populations. [00:19:42] Biological theory of education. [00:21:45] Book: The Art of Tracking, the Origin of Science, by Louis Liebenberg. [00:25:11] Agriculture as catalyst for change. [00:31:06] Book: Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, by James C Scott. [00:32:48] The importance of play. [00:33:52] Curiosity and playfulness. [00:37:07] Books: The Play of Animals and The Play of Man, by Karl Groos. [00:41:51] Book: The Moral Judgement of the Child, by Jean Piaget. [00:43:37] Unschooling. [00:44:14] Agile Learning Centers. [00:45:03] The Alliance for Self-Directed Education. [00:46:38] Unschooling rising in popularity among homeschoolers. [00:49:19] Study of 232 unschooling families: Gray, Peter, and Gina Riley. "The challenges and benefits of unschooling, according to 232 families who have chosen that route." Journal of Unschooling & Alternative Learning 7.14 (2013). [00:49:42] Study of 75 adults who were unschooled: Gray, Peter, and Gina Riley. "The challenges and benefits of unschooling, according to 232 families who have chosen that route." Journal of Unschooling & Alternative Learning 7.14 (2013). [00:51:21] Getting into college. [00:55:24] Age mixing and scaffolding. [01:01:00] "Please Trespass" sign. [01:01:30] Book: Playborhood: Turn Your Neighborhood Into a Place for Play, by Mike Lanza. [01:06:36] Peters Blog: Freedom to Learn. [01:07:13] Find Peter on Facebook. [01:08:40] The hole in the wall project.
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We are schooled to believe that states formed more or less synchronously with settlement and agriculture. In Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States (Yale University Press, 2017), James C. Scott asks us to question this belief. The evidence, he says, is simply not on the side of states. Stratified, taxing, walled towns did not inevitably appear in the wake of crop domestication and sedentary settlement. Only around 3100 BCE, some four millennia after the earliest farming and settling down, did they begin making their presence felt. What happened in these four millennia is the subject of this book: a deep history by “a card-carrying political scientist and an anthropologist and environmentalist by courtesy”, which aims to put the earliest states in their place. James Scott joins us for the fourth episode of New Books in Interpretive Political and Social Science to talk about state fragility and state persistence from Mesopotamia to Southeast Asia, the politics of cereal crops, domestication and reproduction, why it was once good to be a barbarian, the art of provocation, the views of critics, and, human and animal species relations and zoonoses in our epidemiological past and pandemic present. To download or stream episodes in this series please subscribe to our host channel: New Books in Political Science. Nick Cheesman is a fellow in the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University, and a committee member of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group. He co-hosts the New Books in Southeast Asian Studies channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Människans övergång till en bofast tillvaro, och senare statsbildningar, gjorde tamboskapen domesticerad. Men kanske hände detsamma med oss? Var det överhuvudtaget ett framsteg? undrar Maria Eriksson. ESSÄ: Detta är en text där skribenten reflekterar över ett ämne eller ett verk. Åsikter som uttrycks är skribentens egna. Essän sändes ursprungligen 2018. I naturtillståndet var människans liv smutsigt, brutalt och kort, enligt den engelske filosofen Thomas Hobbes. Statens roll blev att skydda människorna från varandra, från ett allas krig mot alla. Men sentida arkeologisk och antropologisk forskning har kastat nytt ljus över människans tillvaro som jägare och samlare. Det tycks inte längre lika självklart att övergången till den bofasta tillvaron, och så småningom statsbildningarna, innebar ett civilisatoriskt framsteg. I själva verket var tillvaron i jordbrukssamhället på många sätt svårare. Många sjukdomar, som mässling, kolera och influensa, uppstod när människor och djur bodde tätt inpå varandra. Arbetet var hårdare och ökade efterfrågan på slavar och därmed krigföring. Kosten var mer enahanda. Livet utanför statsbildningarna tycks tvärtom ha varit materiellt lättare, friare och hälsosammare. De senaste decenniernas forskning, radikalt reviderar eller helt omvänder det vi trodde vi visste om de första civilisationerna. Det skriver James C. Scott i Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States från 2017. Scott, som är professor i statsvetenskap vid Yale, har i ett antal böcker berört förhållandet mellan staten och människor som lever utanför den. Against the Grain handlar om hur de tidigaste statsbildningarna uppstod i Den bördiga halvmånen och om de, inom citationstecken, barbarer som befann sig utanför dessa stater. En intressant fråga handlar om hur jordbruket förändrade oss människor. De grödor och djur vi tämjde påverkades helt klart av detta. Tama får och getter har mindre hjärnor, är mindre skygga och mindre uppmärksamma på sina omgivningar än sina vilda motsvarigheter. Tamboskapen domesticerades. Hände det samma med oss människor när vi lärde oss att leva tillsammans i stora grupper? Homo sapiens tämjde andra arter, men blev i sin tur fjättrad vid det hårda arbetet att så, skörda och bearbeta sädesslag och att ta hand om tamboskapen. Eller för att använda Scotts formulering: Det är en nästan metafysisk fråga vem som tjänar vem åtminstone till dess att det är tid att äta. Against the Grain är full av den sortens reflektioner som vänder upp och ner på perspektiven. Bokens titel, en slags ordvits, betyder ordagrant Mot sädesslagen, men är också ett uttryck som kan översättas ungefär mot strömmen. Sädesslagen, ja Alla de stora civilisationerna har varit beroende av någon form av sädesslag vete, korn, ris eller majs. De är enkla att transportera, mäta, lagra och dela upp i olika kvantiteter. Sädesslag är därför idealiska grödor för den som vill uppskatta vilka tillgångar som finns och sedan beskatta dem. Beskattningen möjliggjorde i sin tur uppbyggnad av en social hierarki där byråkrater, hantverkare, soldater, präster och aristokrater försörjdes av jordbrukarna. För att upprätthålla denna struktur låg det i statens intresse att understryka jordbrukets förträfflighet. Scott illustrerar det med förekomsten av mytologiska historier om hur sädesslag getts till ett utvalt folk av en mäktig guddom. Sedan dessa tidiga statsbildningar i tvåflodslandet har staterna fortsatt att breda ut sig över jorden. Men det har tagit tid. Så sent som för fyra hundra år sedan var en tredjedel av jordklotet fortfarande bebott av jägare-samlare, skiftesbrukare och herdefolk. En stor del av världens befolkning hade sannolikt aldrig mött detta kännemärke för staten: en skatteindrivare, skriver James Scott. Så långt Against the Grain. Men frågan är om vi idag ser en motsatt trend. Kanske är den nomadiska livsstilen på väg tillbaka? I takt med att forskningen ger stöd för en omprövad syn på jägar/samlar-tillvaron sipprar olika aspekter av den in i livsstilsmagasinen. Ofta utifrån idén om att vi, ännu inte, genetiskt har hunnit anpassa oss till jordbrukssamhället. Det tydligaste exemplet är förstås den så kallade stenåldersdieten. Genom att avstå från sädesslag, mejeriprodukter och socker uppnås en kost som ska efterlikna det vi åt innan vi började odla spannmål. Ett annat exempel är boken Born to Run som blev en storsäljare, för några år sedan. Dess författare Christopher McDougall hämtar från forskning om jägar/samlar-samhällen tesen att människan är gjord för att springa för att jaga ihjäl byten snarare än att gå. Stenålderskost och barfotalöpning må vara marginella fenomen. Men ur ett större perspektiv håller vi på att lämna den jordbrukstillvaro som inleddes i Mesopotamien för ungefär tio tusen år sedan. Den industriella revolutionen har inneburit att allt färre arbetar direkt i jordbruket. Det har varit förutsättningen för en storskalig urbanisering, som i allra högsta grad pågår globalt. Mer än hälften av världens befolkning bor nu i urbana områden och två tredjedelar förväntas göra det 2050. Nästa steg är den övergång till informationssamhället som vi nu befinner oss i. Då blir vi ännu mindre bundna till en fysisk plats en plätt jord, en fabrik än tidigare. Några som drar nytta av detta faktum är så kallade digitala nomader. Personer som försörjer sig som översättare, skribenter eller web-någonting och vars arbete med hjälp av en laptop och internetuppkoppling lika väl kan göras från en veranda på Bali som från ett kontor i Stockholm eller Berlin. Kanske kan till och med matproduktionen frikopplas från en fysisk plats? De mest visionära idéerna skulle, om de blir verklighet, göra själva termen jordbruk obsolet. Måhända kommer hydroponics odling av växter i vattentankar med näringslösning och laboratorieodlat kött aldrig att bidra till vår livsmedelsförsörjning i någon större skala. Men tanken är fantasieggande att maten skulle kunna växa fram direkt i kylskåpet istället för på en gård långt ifrån där den ska ätas. Så vad innebär allt detta? Är vi på väg att sätta en bortre parentes för den bofasta tillvaron och återigen bli nomader? Vi håller åtminstone, under en relativt kort tid, på att gå från en värld där en majoritet är bundna till en viss geografisk plats till en där förutsättningarna för att flytta runt är betydligt större. En intressant aspekt är vilka politiska konsekvenser detta får. De tidigaste statsbildningarna växte fram som ett resultat av att det fanns lättkontrollerade skattesubjekt som producerade grödor som var enkla att ta en andel av. Sedan dess har nya sätt att beskatta och kontrollera medborgare växt fram. Men den digitala eran bjuder på utmaningar. Regeringar och skattemyndigheter kämpar med att beskatta individer i en värld där människor, arbete och kapital rör sig över nationsgränser. Kan det till och med vara så att vi börjar ifrågasätta statens hegemoni som sådan? För att återvända till Against the Grain pekar James Scott på hur historieskrivningen, som finansierats av staterna, ofta satt likhetstecken mellan stat och civilisation. Kanske kommer fortsatt arkeologisk forskning att resa ytterligare tvivel kring detta samband. Jägare och samlare har aldrig framstått så attraktiva som nu, skriver Scott, i termer av diet, hälsa och fritid. Livet före staten tycks inte ha varit så smutsigt, brutalt och kort som Hobbes föreställde sig det. Är det vårt sätt att organisera och styra samhället som står näst i tur för en granskning ur stenåldersperspektiv? Maria Eriksson, skribent Litteratur James C. Scotts bok Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Yale University press, 2017.
Christopher Ryan, PhD. is an author, speaker, and podcast host, as well as an excellent storyteller. With his New York Times best-selling book, Sex at Dawn, he became known for challenging the standard cultural narratives around sex and social organization. His new book, Civilized to Death, questions whether civilization has been a net benefit to our species. On his podcast Tangentially Speaking, Chris welcomes a mix of unconventional guests including famous comics, bank robbers, drug smugglers, porn stars, and rattlesnake experts. In this interview, Chris offers a challenging perspective on how humans have strayed from egalitarian tribal living, instead adopting customs that don’t match our biological drives and social needs. He focuses on the disruptive role of agriculture in human history, marking that as the period during which we veered off course. Chris also shares humorous and touching stories from interviews and travels in his van, Scarlett Jovansson. Here’s the outline of this interview with Christopher Ryan: [00:00:17] Tangentially Speaking podcast: Interview with Bruce Parry. [00:00:49] Film from Bruce Parry: Tawai: A Voice from the Forest. [00:01:01] Podcasts with Stephanie Welch: Disruptive Anthropology: An Ancestral Health Perspective on Barefooting and Male Circumcision and The Need for Tribal Living in a Modern World. [00:02:50] Book: The Red Queen by Matt Ridley. [00:03:03] Book: Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress, by Christopher Ryan. [00:04:50] Spain to lead the world in life expectancy. Study: Foreman, Kyle J., et al. "Forecasting life expectancy, years of life lost, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 250 causes of death: reference and alternative scenarios for 2016–40 for 195 countries and territories." The Lancet 392.10159 (2018): 2052-2090. [00:11:37] Show: Tribe, hosted by Bruce Parry. [00:11:52] Film: Cannibals and Crampons, with Bruce Parry and Mark Anstice. [00:14:26] Book: Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What it Means for Modern Relationships, by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. [00:18:28] Sarah Hrdy, author of books on alloparenting. [00:20:37] Article: Sex at Dusk by David Barash. [00:23:30] Agriculture as the catalyst for a profound revolution in the way human beings organize themselves. [00:27:27] Book: Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States, by James C. Scott. [00:29:08] Thomas Malthus and Thomas Hobbes. [00:44:17] Anthropologist Nurit Bird-David. [00:46:43] Critics of Chris’s position on cultural evolution: Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, Richard Dawkins, David Buss, Helen Fisher. [00:55:39] Book: Opening Up: A Guide To Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships, by Tristan Taormino. [00:58:09] Dan Savage. [01:02:50] Book: The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge, by Matt Ridley. [01:07:28] Book: The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion, by Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson. [01:09:59] Think globally, act locally. [01:18:14] Kenneth Ford, Director of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC); Podcast: Optimal Diet and Movement for Healthspan, Amplified Intelligence and More with Ken Ford. [01:22:35] Tangentially Speaking podcast. Get a T-shirt. [01:27:03] Podcast with the woman who took ayahuasca: Mandy. [01:30:27] Podcast with rattlesnake expert: John Porter. [01:30:46] Jeff Leach. [01:37:19] See more of Chris at his website and his TED talk.
The common notion of the beginnings of civilization is that it was remarkably better than a nomadic hunter and gatherer type of existence. It is in fact the opposite; early cities and city-states throughout history were so miserable that these early states went to war in order to capture slaves to keep the city operating, and that's one reason why slavery was endemic to the so-called civilized world. Today, renowned anthropologist and political scientist James C. Scott of Yale University gives us a deeper look into the reality of such ancient Mesopotamian societies using his latest book. Guest: James C. Scott is an American political scientist and anthropologist. He is a comparative scholar of agrarian and non-state societies, subaltern politics, and anarchism. He has also authored many books, such as Seeing Like a State, The Art of Not Being Governed, as well as his newest and the topic of today's show, Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. The post The Uncivilized Nature of Civilization appeared first on KPFA.
The common notions of the beginning of civilizations is that it was remarkably better than a nomadic hunter and gather type of existence. Anthropologist James C. Scott argues that early cities an cities throughout the history were so miserable that these early states went to war in order to capture slaves to keep the cities operating and that's a big reason why slavery was so endemic to the so called civilized world. Guest: James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Agrarian Studies Program at Yale University. He is the author of the book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. The post Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States appeared first on KPFA.
Dave and Matt sit down with Michael Vann to talk about his new graphic history, The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam. Your hosts discuss the joy of finding unexpected things in the archive, the necessity of writing a colonial urban history as a world history, the importance of cultural history and thick description, and the opportunities that graphic histories give teachers in the classroom. Also, check out Mike's excellently-titled article in the Journal of World History: Sex and the Colonial City: Mapping Masculinity, Whiteness, and Desire in French Occupied Hanoi Recommendations: All - The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam by Michael G. Vann and Liz Clarke Micheal - Melancholy Order: Asian Migration and the Globalization of Borders by Adam M. McKeown Dave - Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi by Kenda Mutongi Ghana on the Go: African Mobility in the Age of Motor Transportation by Jennifer Anne Hart Matt - Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott Music: Angkor by Eric Jones Le Festin by Camille from the Ratatouille soundtrack Bullet with Butterfly Wings by the Smashing Pumpkins Godzilla by Blue Öyster Cult
Människans övergång till en bofast tillvaro, och senare statsbildningar, gjorde tamboskapen domesticerad. Men kanske hände detsamma med oss? Var det överhuvudtaget ett framsteg? undrar Maria Eriksson. ESSÄ: Detta är en text där skribenten reflekterar över ett ämne eller ett verk. Åsikter som uttrycks är skribentens egna. I naturtillståndet var människans liv smutsigt, brutalt och kort, enligt den engelske filosofen Thomas Hobbes. Statens roll blev att skydda människorna från varandra, från ett allas krig mot alla. Men sentida arkeologisk och antropologisk forskning har kastat nytt ljus över människans tillvaro som jägare och samlare. Det tycks inte längre lika självklart att övergången till den bofasta tillvaron, och så småningom statsbildningarna, innebar ett civilisatoriskt framsteg. Homo sapiens tämjde andra arter, men blev i sin tur fjättrad vid det hårda arbetet att så, skörda och bearbeta sädesslag ... I själva verket var tillvaron i jordbrukssamhället på många sätt svårare. Många sjukdomar, som mässling, kolera och influensa, uppstod när människor och djur bodde tätt inpå varandra. Arbetet var hårdare och ökade efterfrågan på slavar och därmed krigföring. Kosten var mer enahanda. Livet utanför statsbildningarna tycks tvärtom ha varit materiellt lättare, friare och hälsosammare. De senaste decenniernas forskning, radikalt reviderar eller helt omvänder det vi trodde vi visste om de första civilisationerna. Det skriver James C. Scott i Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States från 2017. Scott, som är professor i statsvetenskap vid Yale, har i ett antal böcker berört förhållandet mellan staten och människor som lever utanför den. Against the Grain handlar om hur de tidigaste statsbildningarna uppstod i Den bördiga halvmånen och om de, inom citationstecken, barbarer som befann sig utanför dessa stater. En intressant fråga handlar om hur jordbruket förändrade oss människor. De grödor och djur vi tämjde påverkades helt klart av detta. Tama får och getter har mindre hjärnor, är mindre skygga och mindre uppmärksamma på sina omgivningar än sina vilda motsvarigheter. Tamboskapen domesticerades. Hände det samma med oss människor när vi lärde oss att leva tillsammans i stora grupper? För att upprätthålla denna struktur låg det i statens intresse att understryka jordbrukets förträfflighet Homo sapiens tämjde andra arter, men blev i sin tur fjättrad vid det hårda arbetet att så, skörda och bearbeta sädesslag och att ta hand om tamboskapen. Eller för att använda Scotts formulering: Det är en nästan metafysisk fråga vem som tjänar vem åtminstone till dess att det är tid att äta. Against the Grain är full av den sortens reflektioner som vänder upp och ner på perspektiven. Bokens titel, en slags ordvits, betyder ordagrant Mot sädesslagen, men är också ett uttryck som kan översättas ungefär mot strömmen. Sädesslagen, ja Alla de stora civilisationerna har varit beroende av någon form av sädesslag vete, korn, ris eller majs. De är enkla att transportera, mäta, lagra och dela upp i olika kvantiteter. Sädesslag är därför idealiska grödor för den som vill uppskatta vilka tillgångar som finns och sedan beskatta dem. Beskattningen möjliggjorde i sin tur uppbyggnad av en social hierarki där byråkrater, hantverkare, soldater, präster och aristokrater försörjdes av jordbrukarna. För att upprätthålla denna struktur låg det i statens intresse att understryka jordbrukets förträfflighet. Scott illustrerar det med förekomsten av mytologiska historier om hur sädesslag getts till ett utvalt folk av en mäktig guddom. Kanske är den nomadiska livsstilen på väg tillbaka? Sedan dessa tidiga statsbildningar i tvåflodslandet har staterna fortsatt att breda ut sig över jorden. Men det har tagit tid. Så sent som för fyra hundra år sedan var en tredjedel av jordklotet fortfarande bebott av jägare-samlare, skiftesbrukare och herdefolk. En stor del av världens befolkning hade sannolikt aldrig mött detta kännemärke för staten: en skatteindrivare, skriver James Scott. Så långt Against the Grain. Men frågan är om vi idag ser en motsatt trend. Kanske är den nomadiska livsstilen på väg tillbaka? I takt med att forskningen ger stöd för en omprövad syn på jägar/samlar-tillvaron sipprar olika aspekter av den in i livsstilsmagasinen. Ofta utifrån idén om att vi, ännu inte, genetiskt har hunnit anpassa oss till jordbrukssamhället. Det tydligaste exemplet är förstås den så kallade stenåldersdieten. Genom att avstå från sädesslag, mejeriprodukter och socker uppnås en kost som ska efterlikna det vi åt innan vi började odla spannmål. Ett annat exempel är boken Born to Run som blev en storsäljare, för några år sedan. Dess författare Christopher McDougall hämtar från forskning om jägar/samlar-samhällen tesen att människan är gjord för att springa för att jaga ihjäl byten snarare än att gå. Stenålderskost och barfotalöpning må vara marginella fenomen. Men ur ett större perspektiv håller vi på att lämna den jordbrukstillvaro som inleddes i Mesopotamien för ungefär tio tusen år sedan. Den industriella revolutionen har inneburit att allt färre arbetar direkt i jordbruket. Det har varit förutsättningen för en storskalig urbanisering, som i allra högsta grad pågår globalt. Mer än hälften av världens befolkning bor nu i urbana områden och två tredjedelar förväntas göra det 2050. Kanske kan till och med matproduktionen frikopplas från en fysisk plats? De mest visionära idéerna skulle, om de blir verklighet, göra själva termen jordbruk obsolet. Nästa steg är den övergång till informationssamhället som vi nu befinner oss i. Då blir vi ännu mindre bundna till en fysisk plats en plätt jord, en fabrik än tidigare. Några som drar nytta av detta faktum är så kallade digitala nomader. Personer som försörjer sig som översättare, skribenter eller web-någonting och vars arbete med hjälp av en laptop och internetuppkoppling lika väl kan göras från en veranda på Bali som från ett kontor i Stockholm eller Berlin. Kanske kan till och med matproduktionen frikopplas från en fysisk plats? De mest visionära idéerna skulle, om de blir verklighet, göra själva termen jordbruk obsolet. Måhända kommer hydroponics odling av växter i vattentankar med näringslösning och laboratorieodlat kött aldrig att bidra till vår livsmedelsförsörjning i någon större skala. Men tanken är fantasieggande att maten skulle kunna växa fram direkt i kylskåpet istället för på en gård långt ifrån där den ska ätas. Så vad innebär allt detta? Är vi på väg att sätta en bortre parentes för den bofasta tillvaron och återigen bli nomader? Vi håller åtminstone, under en relativt kort tid, på att gå från en värld där en majoritet är bundna till en viss geografisk plats till en där förutsättningarna för att flytta runt är betydligt större. En intressant aspekt är vilka politiska konsekvenser detta får. De tidigaste statsbildningarna växte fram som ett resultat av att det fanns lättkontrollerade skattesubjekt som producerade grödor som var enkla att ta en andel av. Sedan dess har nya sätt att beskatta och kontrollera medborgare växt fram. Men den digitala eran bjuder på utmaningar. Regeringar och skattemyndigheter kämpar med att beskatta individer i en värld där människor, arbete och kapital rör sig över nationsgränser. Livet före staten tycks inte ha varit så smutsigt, brutalt och kort ... Kan det till och med vara så att vi börjar ifrågasätta statens hegemoni som sådan? För att återvända till Against the Grain pekar James Scott på hur historieskrivningen, som finansierats av staterna, ofta satt likhetstecken mellan stat och civilisation. Kanske kommer fortsatt arkeologisk forskning att resa ytterligare tvivel kring detta samband. Jägare och samlare har aldrig framstått så attraktiva som nu, skriver Scott, i termer av diet, hälsa och fritid. Livet före staten tycks inte ha varit så smutsigt, brutalt och kort som Hobbes föreställde sig det. Är det vårt sätt att organisera och styra samhället som står näst i tur för en granskning ur stenåldersperspektiv? Maria Eriksson, skribent Litteratur James C. Scotts bok Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Yale University press, 2017.
In part 2 of this 2 part episode we join James Scott as he presents some of the main arguments in his upcoming book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. This presentation was recorded at Yale University on April 13th, 2017.
In part 1 of this 2 part episode we join James Scott as he presents some of the main arguments in his upcoming book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. This presentation was recorded at Yale University on April 13th, 2017.
In part 2 of this 2 part episode we join James Scott as he presents some of the main arguments in his upcoming book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. This presentation was recorded at Yale University on April 13th, 2017.
In part 1 of this 2 part episode we join James Scott as he presents some of the main arguments in his upcoming book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. This presentation was recorded at Yale University on April 13th, 2017.
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