In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It Brings

by James C. Scott

Overview

James C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit
 
“A posthumous conclusion to a scholarly career of upending conventional wisdom . . . and [of] writing sweeping treatments of the distant past, which nonetheless managed to broach some of the most vexing political questions of our time.”—Nikil Savil, New Yorker
 
Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they can teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered.
 
It is the annual flood pulse—the brief time when the river occupies the floodplain—that gives a river its vitality, but it is human engineering that kills it, suppressing the flood pulse with dams, irrigation, siltation, dikes, and levees. In demonstrating these threats to the riverine world, award-winning author James C. Scott examines the life history of a particular river, the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) of Burma, the heartland and superhighway of Burman culture.
 
Scott opens our understanding of rivers to encompass their entirety—tributaries, wetlands, floodplains, backwaters, eddies, periodic marshlands, and the assemblage of life forms dependent on rivers for their existence and well-being. For anyone interested in the Anthropocene and the Great Acceleration, rivers offer a striking example of the consequences of human intervention in trying to control and domesticate a natural process, the complexity and variability of which we barely understand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300278491
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	02/25/2025
Series:	Yale Agrarian Studies Series
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James C. Scott (1936–2024) was Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at Yale University. His many books include The Art of Not Being Governed, Seeing Like a State, Domination and the Arts of Resistance, and Against the Grain.

Editorial Reviews

“Its virtue lies in a simple, almost schematic idea pursued across disciplines.”—Timothy Farrington, Wall Street Journal

“A posthumous conclusion to a scholarly career of upending conventional wisdom . . . and [of] writing sweeping treatments of the distant past, which nonetheless managed to broach some of the most vexing political questions of our time.”—Nikil Savil, New Yorker

“The book paints a strong picture of the challenges that biodiversity in the Ayeyarwady faces and highlights the inherent contradictions in man-made conservation efforts.”—Maximillian Morch, Asian Review of Books

“In this posthumously published book, Scott urges his readers ‘to recognize the animated liveliness of the river and its tributaries’ . . . [and] the inarguable coalescence of rivers, weather patterns, soils, and the humans and nonhuman creatures in their midst.”—Kirkus Reviews

“An essential book for understanding Scott.”—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution (blog)

“The book does a great job in explaining how river topography changes over time, altering not just the physical boundaries of a river in its banks and watercourse, but also the political boundaries, of villages and claimed territories.”—Nick Parish, Current Flow State (blog)

“A touching homage. . . . An informative and compelling assessment.”—Glenn C. Altschuler, Florida Courier

“An astonishing and beautifully written book that redefines rivers and our relationship with them.”—Tim Flannery, author of The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers

“What a gift! If we must lose James Scott, we at least gain his insights on rivers and the power of their unruliness. This book will reshape the world around you.”—Boyce Upholt, author of The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi

“A good book teaches new knowledge. A great book opens new ways of seeing the world. In Praise of Floods is the latter, opening readers to new ways of thinking about rivers and, hopefully, new ethics for co-living with them.”—Ling Zhang, author of The River, the Plain, and the State: An Environmental Drama in Northern Song China, 1048–1128

“Jim Scott has done it again! By viewing rivers as dynamic systems, he exposes our species’ lust for domination and enters a passionate plea on behalf of all sentient beings. This enthralling account is unforgettable and indispensable.”—Peter C. Perdue, author of China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia

“With characteristic and subtle insight, James Scott challenges our preconceptions of what rivers are, arguing for a perspective including river species and landscapes as well as multiple time scales. Bold and original.”—Ruth Mostern, author of The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History
 
“In this personal and engaging book, James Scott makes the provocative, big argument that we should live with floods. Agree with him or not, his ideas will settle in like a burr; and that is the charm of this book!”—David Biggs, author of Footprints of War: Militarized Landscapes in Vietnam
 
“James Scott did not write small books, and this last one takes on a scholar’s greatest challenge: how to write a history that contains all life and not just human life.”—Richard White, author of The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865–1896
 
“In Praise of Floods explores international and holistic perspectives of rivers and floods. Using the Ayeyarwady River as a case study, James Scott illustrates how flooding can change landscapes, agricultural production, and responses to natural disasters as well as political upheavals.”—Alan P. Covich, University of Georgia

From the Publisher

2024-12-14
A primer on the benefits of flooding and the enduring costs of domesticated rivers.

In this posthumously published book, Scott urges his readers “to recognize the animated liveliness of the river and its tributaries“ as he “give[s] voice to all the flora and fauna whose lifeworld centers” on a river’s watershed. His focus is the flood pulse that occurs every year as water from seasonal rains, snow, and glacial melts surges into river basins. The overflow provides nutrients for soils, trees, plants, fish, and mollusks. It supports insect, bird, and animal life that then attracts animals, birds, and fish higher on the food chain, creating a diverse ecosystem. Scott, who founded the Program in Agrarian Studies at Yale, pays particular attention to the role of rivers in the evolution of human settlements, from hunter-gatherers to the present. Lurking in the historical shadows are industrialization and nation-states with the capacity to build massive dams, irrigation channels, and levees and engage in flood-control measures indifferent to the ecological and cultural consequences. This argument draws on Scott’sAgainst the Grain (2017) andSeeing Like a State (1998). To illustrate, he turns to Burma (his preferred name), and the Ayeyarwady (often spelled Irrawaddy) River, which runs nearly the length of the country. He tells of the river’s many meanderings, its long history, its place in the seasonal lives of fishermen and farmers, and the river spirits that are part of people’s daily lives. But Scott seems unsure of the book’s central focus. His three major concerns—the basic knowledge of watershed dynamics, the history of human engagement with rivers, and the Ayeyarwady River—form a somewhat disjointed narrative. Regardless, he has written an informative introduction to the inarguable coalescence of rivers, weather patterns, soils, and the humans and nonhuman creatures in their midst.

Debunks the perception that rivers exist solely to provide humans with water, power, and transportation.

Kirkus Reviews