James Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland
> Southeast Asia - fundamental rethinking of questions of state formation
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If you are interested in biblical scholarship from a Left perspective,
Richard A. Horsley of U. Mass. discusses James Scott's thesis, and argues
that the early Jesus movements applied similar strategies of resistance as
Scott is talking about. I encountered this thesis in Covenant Economics: A
Biblical Vision of Justice for All, which is outstanding.
Horsley has devoted a whole book to the topic, Hidden Transcripts and the Arts of Resistance: Applying the Work of James C. Scott to Jesus and Paul, which I hope to read someday.
There is quite a growing body of scholarship along these lines, shedding light from recent historical and social science insights on what Karl Kautsky broadly anticipated decades ago. What this shows, among other things, is that the whole culture war going on today between Bible thumpers and Bible bashers concerns issues (theism vs. atheism, creationism vs. evolution, etc.) that biblical writers were not even interested in. Rather, they were interested in social liberation, and expressed themselves using ancient modes of thought. This, I think, can help us see past both religious and anti-religious preoccupations that are dominated by middle class interests and perspectives, and points to more effective ways to engage the whole Bible Belt / Fox News crowd that would cite Jesus and Rush Limbaugh in the same breath.