Seeing Like a State

"Seeing Like a State" is a book by James C. Scott that examines how governments and authorities attempt to organize societies for efficiency and control. It discusses how top-down planning often simplifies complex social systems into manageable categories, which can overlook local knowledge and cultural diversity. This approach can lead to unintended negative consequences, such as social disruption or failure of large projects. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding local contexts and practices when designing policies, highlighting how state efforts to make society "legible" or fully understandable may inadvertently cause harm or reduce resilience.