Abstract
In recent decades, the sociology of the state has become engrossed in the relationship between knowledge and modern statecraft. Heeding recent calls for “society-centered” approaches, this article investigates the role of nonstate leaders in the production of state knowledge. It takes up the following question: How have nonstate leaders (i.e., civil leaders and community advocates) contributed to what James Scott has termed “state legibility”? While historical traces suggest that these actors have worked to lessen opposition to state projects, this activity remains empirically understudied and conceptually underdeveloped. Addressed to this problem, this article introduces the concept of consent building and proposes an analytic approach that focuses on the motivations of nonstate leaders, the obstacles of noncompliance they confront, and the persuasive tactics used to foster public cooperation. To illustrate the purchase of this approach, it presents a case study of local Latino promoters of the 2010 U.S. census. This analysis reveals how nonstate leaders can enable, rather than impede, the capacity to “see like a state.”.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 385-425 |
| Number of pages | 41 |
| Journal | American Journal of Sociology |
| Volume | 123 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2017 |
Funding
Passoth, Nicholas Rowland, Andrew Schrank, Bhrigupati Singh, Robert Vargas, Trina Vithayathil, Nicholas Wilson, and the AJS reviewers for thorough and thoughtful feedback. Aspects of this article were presented before audiences at the American Sociological Association, the Eastern Sociological Society, the Puerto Rican Studies Association, the Social Science and History Association, the Social Study of Science and Society, Harvard University, Yale University, and Northwestern University. This research was conducted with support from the Ford Foundation. Direct correspondence to Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Department of Sociology, Northwestern University, 1810 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60208. E-mail: [email protected] 2I define nonstate actors, simply, as social actors who are not official functionaries of a government or state bureaucracy. In certain contexts, the line between “nonstate” and “state” actors, however, can be rather blurry.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science