Hidden Transcripts of the Powerful: Researching the Arts of Domination

This paper develops a submerged aspect of James C. Scott’s work on ‘hidden transcripts’. Whereas Scott focussed predominantly on the hidden transcripts of the powerless, here we propose a research agenda based upon studying hidden transcripts of the powerful. First, we define our terms. Second, we map the existing literature, observing that although plenty of research exists into the public transcripts of dominant and subordinate groups, and that Scott initiated a productive research agenda into the hidden transcripts of powerless groups, research into hidden transcripts of powerful actors is lacking. Third, we ask how social scientists might study elite hidden transcripts, and what methodological challenges and opportunities such a research programme might present, identifying in particular the promising avenue of studying what we have chosen to call ‘transcripts hidden in plain sight’. Fourth and finally, we question the epistemological status of these hidden transcripts, focussing on whether they can be used by social researchers as a reliable indicator of the ‘true’ consciousness of the social group that expresses them.