Weapons of the Weak

Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance is a 1985 book on everyday forms of rural class conflict as illustrated in a Malaysian village, written by anthropologist James C. Scott and published by Yale University Press.

Weapons of the Weak

First edition
Author	James C. Scott
Subject	Anthropology
Published	1985 (Yale University Press)
Pages	389
ISBN	0300033362

In Weapons of the Weak, Scott turns his attention to the daily, subtle forms of resistance employed by villagers, a shift from the traditionally studied grand narratives of revolutions and uprisings. His ethnographic research concentrates on seventy families in a Malaysian village, whose lives are profoundly affected by the introduction of irrigation and double cropping, leading to significant social changes.

The core of Scott's analysis lies in the various passive resistance strategies adopted by the villagers. These include: sabotage, foot-dragging, evasion, false compliance, pilfering, feigned ignorance, arson, dissimulation, and slander.

See also

• Everyday Resistance
• Class struggle
• Critique of work
• Critique of political economy
• Symbolic interactionism
• Refusal of work

Further reading

• Adas, Michael, 1943- (October 15, 1987). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Journal of Social History. 21: 149–152. doi:10.1353/jsh/21.1.149.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Byres, Terence J. (November 15, 1986). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Times Literary Supplement: 1287.
• Chang, Grace (September 2011). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". Women's Review of Books. 28 (5): 12–14.
• Downing, Brian M. (July 1987). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". Ethics. 97 (4): 875–876. doi:10.1086/292905. JSTOR 2381221.
• Esman, Milton J. (March 1987). "Review". The American Political Science Review. 81 (1): 310–313. doi:10.2307/1960832. JSTOR 1960832. S2CID 151727883.
• Ewell, J. (July–August 1997). "The sparrow and the hawk (Book Review) (Undetermined)". Choice (Conari Press). 34: 1860. ISSN 0009-4978.
• Gaenslen, Fritz (August 1987). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". The Journal of Politics. 49 (3): 879–882. doi:10.2307/2131289. JSTOR 2131289.
• Guha, Ramachandra (November 21, 1987). "Presentation of Class in Everyday Life". Economic and Political Weekly. 22 (47): 2000–2002. JSTOR 4377757.
• Kerkvliet, Benjamin J. Tria (January–April 1988). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Journal of Asian & African Studies. 23: 217–218. doi:10.1163/156852188x00240.
• Larew, M.M. (July 3, 1986). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Choice (Conari Press). 23: 1720. ISSN 0009-4978.
• Lev, Daniel S. (May 1987). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". The Journal of Asian Studies. 46 (2): 462–463. doi:10.2307/2056073. JSTOR 2056073. S2CID 260786878.
• Mitchell, Timothy (October 1990). "Everyday Metaphors of Power". Theory and Society. 19 (5): 545–577. doi:10.1007/bf00147026. JSTOR 657563. S2CID 144496266.
• Moore, Mick (January 1987). "Review". Modern Asian Studies. 21 (4): 824–827. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00009343. JSTOR 312765. S2CID 143171251.
• Muratorio, Blanca (August 1987). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". American Ethnologist. 14 (3): 585–586. doi:10.1525/ae.1987.14.3.02a00330. JSTOR 644982.
• Ramasamy, P. (October 15, 1992). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Labor Studies Journal. 17: 97–98. ISSN 0160-449X.
• Scott, James C. (September 2005). "Afterword to 'Moral Economies, State Spaces, and Categorical Violence'". American Anthropologist. New Series. 107 (3): 395–402. doi:10.1525/aa.2005.107.3.395. JSTOR 3567025.
• Seddon, David (November 1988). "Review: Weapons of the Weak". Sociology. 22: 666–668. doi:10.1177/0038038588022004037. S2CID 220443790.
• Sivaramakrishnan, K. (September 2005). "Introduction to 'Moral Economies, State Spaces, and Categorical Violence'". American Anthropologist. New Series. 107 (3): 321–330. doi:10.1525/aa.2005.107.3.321. JSTOR 3567018.
• Sivaramakrishnan, K. (September 2005). "Some Intellectual Genealogies for the Concept of Everyday Resistance". American Anthropologist. New Series. 107 (3): 346–355. doi:10.1525/aa.2005.107.3.346. JSTOR 3567020.
• Taylor, Donald C. (February 1987). "Review". American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 69 (1): 206–207. doi:10.2307/1241340. JSTOR 1241340.
• Van Der Veer, Peter (November 1991). "Domination and the arts of resistance (Book Review) (Undetermined)". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 518: 215. doi:10.1177/0002716291518001040. S2CID 220839275.
• Williams, Michael (December 1986). "Rev. of Weapons of the Weak". International Affairs. 63 (1): 165–166. doi:10.2307/2620323. JSTOR 2620323. S2CID 151480794.
• Williams, Penry (April 2006). "[Negotiating Power in Early Modern Society]". English Historical Review. 121: 532–535. doi:10.1093/ehr/cel019.

External links

• Full text at the Internet Archive