Jarrett Oldenburg
HIST 3773
Dr. Cross
Sept. 14, 2022
Cities, People, and Language Abstract
Scott looks at three forms of ‘rationalizing’ state activities: planned cities, development of
permanent surnames, and establishment of official language. These aim to make legible a place
or people, facilitating effective governance. The categorizations involved in establishing this
order require systems of measurement, which are necessarily simplified to enable ‘synoptic’
understanding allowing them to be useful. Measurements chosen may however be the easiest to
quantify, not necessarily most accurate. Successful ‘state interventions’ are challenging without
the understanding these simplifications allow.