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History

Counted, Mapped, Named

Censuses, surnames and lines drawn in offices

James Scott · Radcliffe · the registrars · 3 chapters · 7 min read

How states learned to see the people they were governing.

Free to read: every chapter below is open

Making a Population Legible

  1. 01The State Learns to CountOn the instrument built to extract, and everything else it is now used for.
  2. 02Why You Have a Fixed SurnameOn the decree that gave you your name, and why it was resisted.
  3. 03A Line Drawn in an OfficeOn lines drawn by people who had not been there, and why they hold anyway.