Kanye 2020 | Page 17

The Power of a Name

In a modern state we would not attribute the creation of surnames to the state in fact, it is difficult to think of a time when surnames were not common. After reading, “Cities, People, and Language,” it makes sense that the state would need surnames for “standardization and legibility.” The strongest connection I made during…

The Ability to Influence

In class on Tuesday we discussed the three faces of power. The first face of power, the ability to influence, I believe was a factor in the reasoning’s behind some of the things that the state does and provides. Coate’s describes the ability to influence as an individual or an institution being in a position…

“You Have to Get’em When They’re Young!”

The American exceptionalism that permeates the United States history that is taught in American public schools could be interpreted as a tool for simplifying state functions and avoiding the intervention of other countries in American affairs. American pride and loyalty is perpetuated by the way teachers emphasize the parts of history that promote American pride…

Standards Don’t Always Have to be a Bad Thing

The State can be seen all around us. It is involved in too many aspects of our lives to even count, and often times it has a hand in our everyday social lives in ways we don’t even think about. James Scott in Seeing Like a State writes of the role of the State in…

Do You Have a Rewards Card With Us?

James C. Scott discusses the transition between the pre-modern and modern state. Specifically, how city logistics, the creation of surnames, and language all modernized society in a way that benefited the state. What Scott speaks about it is important because it still happens in modern times. There was a point in history that the state…

Seeing a State as an Immigrant

The metric system allows for global scientific discussions and maps. The New York City grid system of urban planning allows for even the most clueless tourist understand directions. James Scott explores the state’s responsibilities to standardized and rationalize systems in order to help their citizen’s prosper. In the introduction, Scott explores why the state is…

Living in Anytown, USA: Is it Really a Utopia?

Sherman, set the way back machine to 1500. Here we see a world very different than what you see in 2015. The cities were smaller, and much less organized. Here we can see narrower streets, whose direction have less meaning besides to confuse an invader. Cities in these days were a diverse body of architecture,…

Too Legit to Quit

On Tuesday in class, we discussed the difference between gangs and The State, relating to the Volkov reading about the Glasnost period. We came to the conclusion that the difference between the two groups was really the idea of legitimacy. The State, we discussed, can get away with violence, discrimination, and wrongdoings because of their…

Systems of Control

Recent controversies pertaining to identity politics make James Scott’s assertion that “the builders of the modern nation state…strive to shape a people and landscape that will fit their technique of observation” rather prescient. But to conclude that this slow-rolling “project of internal colonization” is a recent phenomenon, would be to disregard history. Rather, as Scott…

For Us or For Them

I think that it is pretty clear from these readings that there are reasons for the way cities are designed that go beyond just what the government claims. For instance cities are designed to prevent conflicts from external factors and to promote internal safety. The ways the streets are set up allows for police and…