Against the Grain

by James C. Scott

The author deftly constructs the interregnum preiod between when agriculture was getting started, states were infancy and the period when states establish themselves as major players.

He starts with variety of crops. Tax collectors favored grain, easily measured and taxed, but in places like Africa, where cassava—a tuber—dominated, centralized states never materialized. Cassava's resistance to storage and quantification made it tough for state control, while grains, with their steady yields, became the backbone of governance.

The domestication of fire and crops narrowed biodiversity, especially in floodplains, binding humans to rigid farming schedules. In the process, we domesticated ourselves.

Nomads, by contrast, thrived on diverse diets, healthier and more robust than their farming counterparts. This "Golden Age of Barbarians" left them as formidable raiders, feasting on the spoils of settled farmers, who often fled when conditions turned. China's Great Wall, the author notes, was as much a tool to trap farmers as to ward off invaders.

I couldn't help but wonder if the nomadic Muslim invaders of India similarly exploited their mobility and resource diversity for advantage. Just as this idea formed, the author invoked a Chinese proverb: "You can ride a horse to invade, but you must dismount to rule," capturing the tension between nomadic freedom and agricultural statehood.

A thought-provoking read with sharp, multi-layered arguments.