Seeing Like a State
How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed (Veritas Paperbacks)
by James C. Scott
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“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
Source →“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
Source →“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
Source →“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
Source →“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
Source →Recommended by 7 notable people, including Nat Eliason and Balaji S. Srinivasan
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Should I read this?
Recommended by 8 sources and appears in International Relations, Diplomacy, and Economics.
"One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades." ?John Gray, New York Times Book ReviewHailed as "a magisterial critique of topdown social planning" by the New York Times, this essential work analyzes disasters from Russia to Tanzania to uncover why states so often fail?sometimes catastr...
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Why recommended
Recommended by 8 sources and appears in International Relations, Diplomacy, and Economics.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Balaji S. Srinivasan
“@AvBronstein I think you'll also appreciate his book Seeing Like a State: | @JonathanShedler You'll enjoy a fabulous book called Seeing Like a State. | I return to this book "Seeing Like A State" so often. It's about the barriers you hit when you try to fit a complex messy world into neat categorical boxes for data analysis, and the dizzying political history of that project. Highly, hugely recommended for all data nerds. | Today's book recommendation:”
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Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Recommended by 8 sources.
“Soft-spoken, heavily illustrated fable built from short dialogues and watercolor sketches. Each spread pairs a spare line of text with a loose drawing, so the pleasure is visual and aphoristic rather than narrative; readers collect felt-true sentences more than plot. Most useful when you want quick consolations, a prompt for conversation with a child, or a pause during a rough day. Limiting if you want sustained argument, concrete advice, or tightly plotted storytelling: the repetition of gentleness can feel sentimental or thin after a while.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
Seeing Like a State
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