2010 Asia Society's Bernard Schwartz Book Award
James C. Scott
Professor, Political Science and Anthropology, Yale University and Author of
The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia (Yale University Press)
An enlightening examination of the pressures faced by indigenous peoples in the mountainous region connecting Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, northeast India and southern China, Scott's book presents his insights which are equally relevant to the hill peoples of South Asia, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. By recounting the improbable quest for self determination of the hill peoples from this region, Scott redefines our views on Asian politics, history, and demographics, and challenges conventional notions about the relationship between pre-modern rural populations and the nation-state.