The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia
Author(s):
Orrego, Agustín Goenaga
Format:
Book review
Citation:
Journal Of East Asian Studies, Volume 11, Issue 3 (2011). pp. 509-511.
Language:
English
Abstract:
According to Scott, for thousands of years, state structures have entailed high costs for their populations, either extracting resources in the form of taxation, slavery, corvée labor, and conscription, or imposing the onerous risks of tyranny, warfare, and epidemics. Hiding in rugged terrain, in the depths of forests and swamps or in the altitude of the mountains, rural communities often escaped the reach of the state. [...] - and this is the second important move in Scott's narrative of the Zomian hill peoples - these groups (Hmong, Karen, Kachin, Lahu, among many others) transformed their practices of subsistence in order to more effectively resist the subjugation of the valley states (precolonial, colonial, and contemporary).