the state's favorite virtue: the world flattened until a bureaucrat can read it from a desk.
means the degree to which a system, place, or population can be observed, measured, and controlled by outsiders.
from coined as a concept by political scientist james c. scott in seeing like a state (1998), who traced it back to prussian foresters replanting forests in straight rows so they could be counted and taxed.
manhattan grid plan — 1811 commission flattened new york into numbered blocks for easy taxation
soviet collectivization — 1930s farms redrawn into uniform units, causing famine that killed millions
vietnamese surnames — colonial officials assigned family names to a naming-optional population
tanzania ujamaa villages — 1970s forced villagization to make rural populations countable