book

James C Scott — Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden

Scott, James C. *Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts*. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.

Related concepts

Concept

Correction

Correction is reality-contact and revisability: the lived work of noticing mismatch, updating beliefs or behavior, and narrowing the gap between what was assumed and what is actually happening before drift hardens into normal.

Concept

Distance

separation from visible consequence

Concept

Harm

Where cost lands when influence is exercised: who absorbs it, who is kept in view, and what displacement is treated as acceptable.

Concept

Legitimacy

Legitimacy is justified recognition of authority—whether power reads as earned and contestable enough that coordination holds under stress instead of collapsing into cynicism, performative compliance, or hidden veto by drift.

Related patterns

Pattern

Disagreement is Suppressed

A leader or leadership setup gains stability, success, or repeated proof that they are right. Guarding the leader can matter as much as getting the facts right. - Success builds confidence. Challenge feels less needed. - Speaking against the line costs more socially - Loyalty is rewarded over pushback - Stories about who we are harden around the leader Dissent fades or softens until it no longer challenges decisions. I keep asking where the challenge is, and I'm not hearing it. Disagreement is suppressed—even when the risk is staring at us.

Pattern

Examples Accumulate

A leader reacts to a mistake, competing pressures, or unclear ground in a shared setting. People need to know what counts as OK. Clear rules are missing or thin. - People watch others when things are unclear - What people see moves faster than written rules - Early reactions set what feels allowed - Silence and emphasis both send a signal What the leader does—especially under pressure—quickly sets what others treat as acceptable. Careful what we model in the room; examples accumulate faster than anything we post on the wiki.

Pattern

Leaders Feel the Consequences

A decision creates cost, risk, or gain for people in a group. Where people decide and where costs land can separate. - Incentives favor visible wins over visible cost - In large settings, effects land unevenly - Distance makes harm easier to miss - Pushing pain downhill is easier Those who decide stay tied to what their choices do to others. If we called it, we sit with the fallout. Leaders feel the consequences on this; we're not sliding the pain down a layer.

Related books

Book

When Others Look to You

Renewal and Erosion in Leadership

A leadership field guide to how influence forms, how trust is renewed, and how erosion begins when responsibility drifts from practice.