Critical perspectives on historical collapse

Abstract

Historical collapse of ancient states or civilizations has raised new awareness about its possible relevance to current issues of sustainability, in the context of global change. This Special Feature examines 12 case studies of societies under stress, of which seven suffered severe transformation. Outcomes were complex and unpredictable. Five others overcame breakdown through environmental, political, or socio-cultural resilience, which deserves as much attention as the identification of stressors. Response to environmental crises of the last millennium varied greatly according to place and time but drew from traditional knowledge to evaluate new information or experiment with increasing flexibility, even if modernization or intensification were decentralized and protracted. Longer-term diachronic experience offers insight into how societies have dealt with acute stress, a more instructive perspective for the future than is offered by apocalyptic scenarios.complexity | social-ecological resilience | multicausality Current Visions of Collapse

Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided?

“…There have been many definitions and much discussion of past 'collapses' [1,3,[28][29][30][31], but a future global collapse does not require a careful definition. It could be triggered by anything from a 'small' nuclear war, whose ecological effects could quickly end civilization [32], to a more gradual breakdown because famines, epidemics and resource shortages cause a disintegration of central control within nations, in concert with disruptions of trade and conflicts over increasingly scarce necessities.…”

Macro-Economic Cycles Related to Climate change in Dynastic China

“…Many other scholars strongly object to these dogmatic statements as a simplistic, monocausal approach to the study of climatic impacts on the fortunes of historical societies (Rosen, 2007;Butzer and Endfield, 2012). A typical example is the Classic Maya collapse.…”

Bringing values and deliberation to science communication

“…The process is not always successful. In a recent study of societies under severe stress, Butzer and Endfield (2) found that less than half were able to avoid breakdown. Adaptive social learning is not an easy challenge to meet.…”