Two Cheers for Anarchism
Subtitle: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and Meaningful Work and Play
By: James C. Scott
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Princeton, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 169
ISBN-13: 9780691155296
Copyright date: 2012
Subjects: Anarchism
Other titles: Applaus dem Anarchismus
First sentence: The arguments found here have been gestating for a long time, as I wrote about peasants, class conflict, resistance, development projects, and marginal peoples in the hills of Southeast Asia.
Description: James Scott taught us what’s wrong with seeing like a state. Now, in his most accessible and personal book to date, the acclaimed social scientist makes the case for seeing like an anarchist. Inspired by the core anarchist faith in the possibilities of voluntary cooperation without hierarchy, *Two Cheers for Anarchism* is an engaging, high-spirited, and often very funny defense of an anarchist way of seeing—one that provides a unique and powerful perspective on everything from everyday social and political interactions to mass protests and revolutions. Through a wide-ranging series of memorable anecdotes and examples, the book describes an anarchist sensibility that celebrates the local knowledge, common sense, and creativity of ordinary people. The result is a kind of handbook on constructive anarchism that challenges us to radically reconsider the value of hierarchy in public and private life, from schools and workplaces to retirement homes and government itself.

Beginning with what Scott calls “the law of anarchist calisthenics,” an argument for law-breaking inspired by an East German pedestrian crossing, each chapter opens with a story that captures an essential anarchist truth. In the course of telling these stories, Scott touches on a wide variety of subjects: public disorder and riots, desertion, poaching, vernacular knowledge, assembly-line production, globalization, the petty bourgeoisie, school testing, playgrounds, and the practice of historical explanation.

Far from a dogmatic manifesto, *Two Cheers for Anarchism* celebrates the anarchist confidence in the inventiveness and judgment of people who are free to exercise their creative and moral capacities.

(Source: [Princeton University Press](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691161037/two-cheers-for-anarchism))
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Illustrations
pagenum: vii; title: Preface
pagenum: ix; label: 1
title: The Uses of Disorder and "Charisma"
pagenum: 1; label: 2
title: Vernacular Order, Official Order
pagenum: 30; label: 3
title: The Production of Human Beings
pagenum: 57; label: 4
title: Two Cheers for the Petty Bourgeoisie
pagenum: 84; label: 5
title: For Politics
pagenum: 101; label: 6
title: Particularity and Flux
pagenum: 129; title: Notes
pagenum: 143; title: Acknowledgments
pagenum: 151; title: Index
pagenum: 153