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"Regression (Civilization)"
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Why did ancient civilizations fail?
\"Ideas abound as to why certain complex societies collapsed in the past--environmental change, subsistence failure, fluctuating social structure, lack of adaptability. Why Did Ancient Civilizations Fail? evaluates the current theories in this important topic and discusses why they offer only partial explanations of the failure of past civilizations. This engaging volume offers a new theory of collapse, that of social hubris. Through an examination of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Roman, Maya, Inca, and Aztec societies, Johnson persuasively argues that hubris has blinded many ancient peoples to evidence that would allow them to adapt, and that this has implications for contemporary societies. Comprehensive and well-written, this volume serves as an ideal text for undergraduate courses on ancient complex societies, as well as appealing to the scholar interested in societal collapse\"--Provided by publisher.
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Explaining Indonesia’s Democratic Regression
After almost two decades of praise for Indonesia’s democratic achievements, a scholarly consensus has begun to emerge that Indonesian democracy is in regression. In this article, we consider the sources of that regression. Drawing upon the comparative literature on democratic decline, we propose that Indonesia is an illiberal democracy, and argue that a constellation of structural, agential and popular forces has led to an incremental deterioration in democratic quality. We first reaffirm arguments that trace the origins of contemporary democratic weakness to the nature of Indonesia’s transition, and the incorporation of anti-democratic elites into the governing structures of its democracy. We then show how Indonesia’s two most recent presidents each eroded democratic norms and institutions in pursuit of political security. Finally, we cast a critical eye on the widely shared view that Indonesia’s population is a bulwark of democratic strength. While most Indonesians support democracy as an abstract concept, significant parts of the population show limited support for the protections, checks and freedoms that underpin a liberal democracy. We suggest there is a significant constituency for illiberalism in Indonesia, and point to the presence of a conducive electoral environment for further democratic erosion.
Journal Article
Decline and Fall, Growth and Spread, or Resilience? Approaches to Studying How and Why Societies Change
Academic and popular libraries are filled with works seeking to uncover why some past societies collapsed, or to explain why others flourished, or why a few prove resilient against the major shocks and disasters that have doomed so many others. While we have learned much from this diverse set of scholarship, there are still many questions about how these different aspects of societal dynamics relate to each other and we lack clear consensus on the best approach(es) to provide answers. Further, historical precedents of collapse, growth, and resilience are being sought to help craft effective responses to the forces that threaten our contemporary world, from climate change to the risk of global pandemics to rising inequality and sectarian conflict. This essay reviews recent and prominent approaches to these topics and provides some thought on how broad, holistic approaches to studying societal dynamics can shed light on these pressing issues.
Journal Article
Sovereign
While the Order focuses on their total annihilation, Rom and his followers must rely on their faith in the abiding power of love to overcome all and lead them to sovereignty.
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Plague and Climate in the Collapse of an Ancient World-System: Afro-Eurasia, 2nd Century CE
This article examines the potential role of the Antonine Plague (165–180 CE) and climate change in the mid-2nd-century collapse of the Afro-Eurasian world-system. Following the model proposed by Gills and Frank, the world-system cycles between phases of integration (A) and disintegration (B). Integrative phases are marked by increasingly complex exchanges of goods, services, information, and populations, which enhance connectivity and intensify the circulation of matter and energy. Yet, this very complexity, while driving growth and expansion, also generates systemic vulnerabilities. The plague and climate change are examined here as critical shocks that triggered the shift from an A phase to a B phase, destabilizing interconnected regions such as the Roman Empire in the West and the Han Dynasty in China. The demographic losses and logistical strains of the pandemic eroded the integrative structures underpinning Afro-Eurasian connectivity, creating conditions for prolonged disintegration. These developments are further situated within the broader history of the Silk Roads, whose role in fostering transcontinental connections had reached a peak in the centuries preceding the crisis. The analysis underscores how pandemics like the Antonine Plague, together with episodes of abrupt climate change, can act as decisive agents in the disintegration phases of world-systems, reshaping the trajectories of complex societies and accelerating the collapse of established networks.
Journal Article
The end of everything : how wars descend into annihilation
\"A New York Times-bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time. War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization--sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling the end of political systems, cultures, and epochs. Though much has changed over the millennia, human nature remains the same. Modern societies are not immune from the horror of a war of extinction. In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war's drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again\"-- Provided by publisher.
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