Everyday forms of resistance in theory and practice

James Scott’s work on everyday forms of resistance stands out owing to three analytical moves: principled motives do not matter much, rural populations have choices other than passivity or rebellion, and dominant classes often do not know what is going on beneath them. These moves drew attention away from comparatively rare outbursts of open opposition that the poor and weak are usually smart enough to avoid. Scott taught us that for people in difficult circumstances, the collective in collective action has to be rethought, the bar for what counts as resistance should not be set too high, and understandings of what is political need to be expanded. In the long and productive aftermath of Weapons of the Weak (1985), further research is warranted on the outcomes of everyday resistance, the means by which it can reproduce power relations as well as undermine them, how it differs from survival strategies, and its relationship to agency, adaptation and hegemony.