James C. Scott, Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and Meaningful Work and Play

Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2012, 200pp; ISBN: 978-0-691155-29-6.

In James C. Scott's late works, anarchism, or at least some of its principles, acquired a highlighted position. Anarchist ideas were present in Scott's previous books, but, especially since Seeing Like a State (1998), what could be regarded as a mere coincidence between those ideas and some of his arguments started to be openly assumed as a dialogue with direct relation to his work. In Two Cheers for Anarchism Scott explores what he calls his 'anarchist squint', aiming to show that if we put on 'anarchist glasses', and look with them at all kinds of aspects of social reality (either in our daily lives or in our academic research), 'certain insights will appear that are obscured from almost any other angle' (p xii)--namely factors that are often neglected in historical and social analysis,...