In Praise of FloodsJames C. Scott reframes rivers as alive and dynamic, revealing the consequences of treating them as resources for our profit. Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they can teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered. It is the annual flood pulsethe brief time when