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Many archaeologists working on complex societies like to cite the works of James C. Scott, the political scientist/anthropologist/historian at Yale University. His works on peasant resistance (Scott 1976, 1985, 1990) are influential in the archaeological resistance literature, and his book on how some state regimes try to control people and society but end up creating more problems than they solve (Scott 1998) is widely cited. I'm not fond of Scott's works - they are simplistic and they often miss the main point of the topics he writes about. I don't want to get sidetracked here. But if you are one of those who likes his book Seeing Like a State, you may want to check out the scathing reviews by sociologists Russell Hardin (2001), and Michael Mann (American Journal of Sociology, 1999, vol. 104-6, p. 1813). Hardin was so exercised about deficiencies in Scott's theoretical approach to knowledge that he expanded the critique in his book review essay into a later book chap...

Well, since I can't seem to get myself into the journal Science as an author (see my post on my second Science rejection , and one on my third rejection ; my first rejection was back in my pre-blogging days), I guess I'll just have to settle for getting quoted in one of the journalism articles in Science . Wade, Lizzie  (2014)  Beyond the Temples: Turning Their Backs on Spectacular Monuments, Archaeologists are Studying Ordinary Households to Uncover the Daily Rhythms of Long-Lost Cities. Science 344:684-686. This is a decent discussion of non-monumental archaeology in Mesoamerica, with only a couple of silly points included (I won't mention these, to save some people embarrassment). For me, the fact that I am not misquoted or misunderstood is a pleasant surprise. I was impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of author Lizzie Wade in our phone conversation a month or two ago. It is really great to see several projects from the University at Albany (SUNY) getting feat...