The Rise and Fall of Civilization

Clough, Shepard B.

doi:10.7312/clou94118

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Similarly, inspired by Goethe's idea of cultures as living organisms, Spengler [32] suggested that civilizations too have a life cycle of an organism, that is they are born, grow, mature, age and die in a predictable manner. In his book The Rise and Fall of Civilization, Clough takes this notion as granted in his exploration into what might be the reasons behind such universal patterns [33]. The narratives of deterministic inevitability of civilizational decline were abundant in the justifications of European imperialism as well as the eugenic programme [34], and subsequently heavily criticized by modern historians, perhaps most influentially Edward Said [35], emphasizing the Western bias in such narratives.…”

Section: The Notion Of Rise and Decline In Historiographical Research...mentioning

confidence: 99%

What are patterns of rise and decline?

Raulo,

Rojas,

Kröger

et al. 2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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The notions of change , such as birth, death, growth, evolution and longevity, extend across reality, including biological, cultural and societal phenomena. Patterns of change describe how success and composition of every entity, from species to societies, vary across time. Languages develop into new languages, music and fashion continuously evolve, economies rise and decline, ecological and societal crises come and go. A common way to perceive and analyse change processes is through patterns of rise and decline, the ubiquitous, often distinctively unimodal trajectories describing life histories of various entities. These patterns come in different shapes and are measured according to varying definitions. Depending on how they are measured, patterns of rise and decline can reveal, emphasize, mask or obscure important dynamics in natural and cultural phenomena. Importantly, the variations of how dynamics are measured can be vast, making it impossible to directly compare patterns of rise and decline across fields of science. Standardized analysis of these patterns has the potential to uncover important but overlooked commonalities across natural phenomena and potentially help us catch the onset of dramatic shifts in entities' state, from catastrophic crashes in success to gradual emergence of new entities. We provide a framework for standardized recognizing, characterizing and comparing patterns of change by combining understanding of dynamics across fields of science. Our toolkit aims at enhancing understanding of the most general tendencies of change, through two complementary perspectives: dynamics of emergence and dynamics of success. We gather comparable cases and data from different research fields and summarize open research questions that can help us understand the universal principles, perception-biases and field-specific tendencies in patterns of rise and decline of entities in nature.

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Section: The Notion Of Rise and Decline In Historiographical Research...mentioning

confidence: 99%

What are patterns of rise and decline?

Raulo,

Rojas,

Kröger

et al. 2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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show abstract

“…they will be less resilient and will collapse or contract. Tainter [28] does not place as great as emphasis on the allocation of energy in societies in the production of prestige goods and their consequences as Shepard Clough [46] does. Brian Fagan's [47] position is more in support of Clough.…”

Section: History Of Collapse Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Zero Population: Ethnohistory, Archaeology and the Khmer, Climate Change and the Collapse of Civilizations

Caldararo¹

2015

Anthropol

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A number of publications, both books and articles, have appeared in recent years attempting to prove that there is a correlation between global climate change and the collapse of complex human societies and is one example where emphasis is placed on climate over human activity. This paper addresses a possible exception to this emphasis of global effects. While societies under stress from weather changes may undergo significant economic and political change in response, Joseph Tainter has shown that a local systems analysis is best applied to determine the contribution of the internal dynamics of a society, rather than assign climate the ultimate effect. In this paper ethnohistorical and archaeological sources are reviewed indicating varied responses to climate challenge. We find that some, like Khmer society, are initially sustainable responses to local conditions and an exception to the proposed global collapse theory. However, failure of surrounding populations created pressures on Khmer society that destabilized adaptations to environmental stress forcing collapse. Like the Bronze Age collapse in the Mediterranean, local accommodation was insufficient for continuation on existing patterns. Others like the Japanese modified population densities and social forms to weather stress. Implications for today concern continued population growth worldwide and rising consumption are continued stresses that must be considered in the context of climate change. Pre-Neolithic population densities and modern technology could be a means of adapting human society to the constraints of quality of life and diminishing returns of technology.

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“…l3 Some imines have been used as the antioxidants in rubber,14 petrol,15 and poly-CZEKAJ mers. [16][17][18] Gallagherl9 has found some interesting properties of N-cinnamylidene anilines during UV irradiation. Metal salts used as sensitizers can cause synergistic effects when used in combination with other photoactive additives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cinnamylidene‐amine‐sensitized photodegradation of polyethylene

Czekaj

1986

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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synopsisThe activity of Schiffs bases of cinnamic aldehyde and aromatic amines in the controlled photodegradation of polyethylene (PE) was studied. N-cinnamylidene anilines containing different substituents in the amine ring (methyl group, halogen, or amine group) and N-cinnamylidene a-naphthyl amine were synthesized and introduced into the polyethylene films by compression molding or extrusion, and they were exposed to the filtered ultraviolet light produced by mercury lamp. The changes in molecular weight, tensile strength, and characteristic IR absorptions were followed during irradiation to control the processes undergoing in the polymer films. It was discovered that N-cinnamylidene anilines containing methyl or halogen substituents and N-cinnamylidene a-naphthyl amine accelerated the photodegradation of polyethylene. Their sensitizing activity increased when the mixtures of Schiffs bases and stannous laurate were introduced into the polymer. PE films containing these additives became brittle after 600 h exposure to the artificial UV light which was the equivalent of 1.5-2 years exposure to the natural sunlight in the medium geographic latitudes. The mechanism of the initial step of photodegradation is discussed.

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The Rise and Fall of Civilization

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

What are patterns of rise and decline?

What are patterns of rise and decline?

Beyond Zero Population: Ethnohistory, Archaeology and the Khmer, Climate Change and the Collapse of Civilizations

Cinnamylidene‐amine‐sensitized photodegradation of polyethylene

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