James C. Scott

About the author

James C. Scott is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Anthropology at Yale University, where he has taught since 1976. A leading figure in political anthropology and peasant studies, Scott has dedicated his career to analyzing state power, resistance, and agrarian societies.

His scholarly trajectory encompasses works on Southeast Asian politics, rural development, and the dynamics between state authority and popular resistance. Among his major publications prior to "Against the Grain" are "The Moral Economy of the Peasant" (1976), "Weapons of the Weak" (1985), "Domination and the Arts of Resistance" (1990), and "Seeing Like a State" (1998). Scott's interdisciplinary approach combines political science, anthropology, and history to examine how ordinary people navigate and resist structures of domination.