Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance

This is the third book I have read by James C. Scott, and I wouldn’t stick with him if I didn’t find value in his writing.Having said that, I go into reading him knowing he is a Marxist True Believer, and therefore a wishful thinker. He is prone to reading Marxism back into history and inserting it where it has no business, but that’s how religious people often write. It is not unique to James C. Scott, and it is not a deal-breaker for readers like me.Scott is an unparalleled observer of human interactions, but his conclusions are dubious. So the challenge when reading Scott is to set aside the Future Glory That Is Almost Here When We All Cast Off Our Shackles rhetoric and focus on his observations about *doing what works.*He sees describes the political calculations made by real people and shows how those individual calculations, responses, and decisions may help _or_ hinder The Glorious Future That Is To Come…you know the rest.A valuable facet of this book is the emphasis on resistance cloaked in conformity. He emphasizes classes and collectives, but he describes _individuals_ and their motives.Interesting.Also examines:+Theft as resistance.+Gossip as resistance.+Poverty as resistance.+Tax evasion as resistance.and it naturally leads the reader to thinking about +pop culture as resistance, +homelessness as resistance, +music as resistance, +other ways to drop out of society/culture

I have learned a lot about the politics of. peasantry. It helps me better understand the everyday form of resistance. A new look on domination and hegemony.

Weapons of the Weak is an ethnography that discusses the lives of the people who live in a small town that is located in Malaysia. James Scott discusses the struggle that exists between the rich and the poor within this community. This ethnography also discusses the impact that the Green Revolution has had on these people and how the introduction of double-cropping has significantly changed their lives. Sedaka is the name given to this Malaysian village by James Scott. The village is very small and consists of only seventy households. It is a "rice-farming community in the main paddy-growing area of Kedah, which had begun double-cropping in 1972. As in so many other "green revolutions" the rich have gotten richer and the poor have remained poor or grown poorer. The introduction of huge combine harvesters in 1976 was perhaps the coup de grace, as it eliminated two-thirds of the wage-earning opportunities for smallholders and landless laborers (Scott, xvii)." The green revolution introduced new farming methods to agriculture such as fertilization, new improved irrigation systems, pesticides and machines. It was an application of capitalism to methods of farming. The introduction of these new practices led to an increase in the food supply, however these new seeds had to be purchased on the world market and therefore had to be sold on the market. The machines led to more farmers being unemployed and the pesticides began to kill off the wildlife. Even though this new method of farming led to a dramatic increase in production, it wasn't benefitting the entire community. While the rich continued to make money, the poor continued to struggle to make ends meet. "Combine-harvesters could and did threaten the main sources of wage-labor earnings for the low-income families in the village (Scott, 115)." However, double cropping didn't seem to be too bad for the village at first. The peasants fixed up their houses, bought bicycles, celebrated special occasions more lavishly and even treated themselves to different things such as jewelry and clothing. It was when production costs continued to increase and wages weren't getting any higher, that the peasants really began to feel the blow of this new revolution. The people of Sedaka have many rituals within their community. One of these rituals is the giving of gifts between the rich and the poor. There are three types of gift giving, which are part of the Muslim religion. They are zakat perbadi, sedekah and kenduri. The zakat is the giving of alms to the poor, it is one of the five pillars of Islam. "After noting that Islam does not discourage the faithful from becoming rich, it asserts that the rich have an obligation to share a portion of their wealth with those who are poor and without property, and it quotes an injunction from the Koran: "And those who store up gold and silver and do not follow the path of Allah, let them know with the sharpest torment." The purpose of zakat, it continues, is not only to discourage stinginess but to promote social harmony among the rich and the poor (Scott, 171)." Although there are those within the community who take advantage of these alms, or those who don't give anything to the poor, most people are generous and thankful and this creates a peace when there is usually a struggle between the two groups. Whereas zakat is tied to the harvest sedekah is not. It is a collection that is made from house to house. An example of this in the ethnography was when people donated money to Razak when his daughter died, in order to help cover the funeral costs. The third type of gift giving in the community is kenduri which is a meal that is sponsored by a family and offered to a number of guests. They are usually offered when a special occasion is occurring such as a wedding. These rituals unite the rich and the poor when there are so many other problems within the community that are constantly separating them. As for the government within Sedaka, there are two political parties, the UMNO and the PAS. Fifty-eight percent of the village supports the UMNO while thirty-eight percent supports the PAS. "The benefits available to UMNO members are substantial. For wealthy villagers membership may mean the opportunity to receive a taxi license, a small business loan, a permit to operate a small rice mill or a lorry, or a local government job (Scott, 131)." "PAS has led a shadowy local existence. With the exception of a death benefit society, which pays funeral costs for many party members in return for a small annual premium, PAS in Sedaka has become largely an affair of demoralized grumbling, social avoidance, and character assassination (Scott, 132-133)." However, at one point the PAS were very successful in this village. Now, the ruling party within this community is the UMNO

I thought that Weapons of the Weak was very interesting because even in our society it applies. People are always resisting in small ways against their bosses by either taking long breaks or coming in late but having someone sign them in showing they got there on time. I enjoyed reading this ethnography because it is well put together and every section flows into the next making perfect sense. Even though the ethnography is a tad on the long side I think that the stories that give it its length are very helpful in helping the reader to understand just what Scott is talking about. The book did a fantastic job in telling how people resist in little ways and how they see their resistance as the only way to get back at the rich or those who exploit them. I definitely think that it not only has to do with the village of Sedaka but it also has to do with all people and cultures because in one-way or another everyone resists.

Exactly as expected

Can be a tough read, but is very useful if you are doing any research on rebellion or need help framing an argument about resistance and rebellion.

will use again. Product just as described and packaged with care.

Kindle version is broken, unusable

画像として読み込んでるからか、90度転倒して読み込まれてるので読みにくい

A book recommended for academic purposes - the information and quality of the item were as expected. Can't ask for more.

Brilliant book, brought this for my degree course, cherry picked some nice quotes from this book