USU Researcher Offers View on Collapse of Civilizations

Are civilizations doomed to disappear? Just a decade ago the question might have seemed rhetorical or even irrelevant. But with the global economy teetering on collapse, nations locked in unrelenting conflict and environmental decline no longer easy to ignore, the French publication Les Cahiers de Science et Vie explored the question through renowned thinkers past and present in its February 2009 issue.

Utah State University historian and anthropologist Joseph Tainter was among the minds tapped to offer views on the causes of societal collapse. With contemporaries Jared Diamond and Chris Scarre, along with voices from the past — historians Edward Gibbon, Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler — Tainter discussed the internal and external challenges facing civilizations and the factors that signal decline and ensuing change.

 

Tainter, head of the College of Natural Resources’ Department of Environment and Society, maintains that civilizations face demise when they become too complex to sustain. In his 1998 book, The Collapse of Complex Societies, Tainter explored the collapse of the Roman Empire, as well as the Mayan and Chacoan civilizations. For Les Cahiers de Science et Vie, he discussed contemporary societal challenges and lessons from history.

 

“As societies respond to challenges they become more complex and, subsequently, increase their consumption of energy resources,” he said.

 

As an example, Tainter cited the U.S. government’s response to the September 11 attacks. A new branch of government, the Department of Homeland Security, was formed and resources were poured into developing more sophisticated security technologies. Congress authorized military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. All the while, costs mounted and continue to rise.

 

Societies are analogous to living organisms, Tainter says. As a healthy organism grows and develops, its metabolism increases. It can weather the occasional infection but, confronted by multiple threats simultaneously, it may not be able to bounce back. If it does, it may carry lasting scars and disability forcing it to adapt to the changes but still lead a productive life.

 

Tainter challenges assertions by past historians and his contemporary Diamond that societal collapse is caused by invasions, epidemics, environmental disaster and the like. The ultimate cause, he says, is diminishing returns on investments in social complexity.

 

“Our world faces many of the same challenges as ancient civilizations,” he says. “The question is whether or not we’ll be able to introduce technological innovations that allow us to withstand these threats and adapt to change.”

 

 

Contact: Joseph Tainter (435) 797-3270, joseph.tainter@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto (435) 797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu