Will Civilisation Collapse?
Topic: Collapse
by Sheng, 2019 Cohort
Since the dawn of time, civilisations have come and gone. What exactly determines whether a civilisation collapse? This primer will explain how Diamond’s framework is still relevant in a modern context to unravelling the wicked problem that is social collapse. This is primarily because Diamond’s fifth factor- ‘societal response’ is still the answer for whether civilisation will survive or
Diamond’s Framework#
The collapse of a civilisation is defined in Diamond’s work as drastic decrease in human population and ‘social, political and economic complexity’ over an extended period of time. Past collapses have included the Mayan in South America, Easter Island in the South Pacific and the fallen empires of ancient civilisation. In his work, Diamond proposes a framework comprising of 12 ecological factors that were common in the collapse of past civilisations. He then grouped these factors into five categories:
- Environmental Damage
- Climate Change
- Presence or absence of hostile neighbours
- Availability of Friendly Trade Partners
- Society’s response to its problems.
Diamond hypothesised that if any three were present, the society was in peril and it is the fifth category- ‘society’s response’ which will determine whether it survives. In the modern context, these five common factors still remain relevant as countries still face environmental issues, climate change and national security
Thus, we examine the idea of societal response and its relevance to unravelling the complexity of societal collapse.
Law Reform#
The concept of law reform is one example of how modern- day society has responded to civilisation threatening problems. Whenever society has faced a challenge, law makers have acted on it through changing laws to bring it into line with current conditions and needs. In the context of Australia, our country has had its fair share of climate change problems. To deal with droughts and water shortages, State Governments have implemented different water levels and required residents to follow different rules depending on our rainfall levels. Similarly, Parliament has enacted laws such as the Climate Change Act 2017 to set targets for our country to deal with climate change. This enables us to respond to civilisation threatening
International Law#
Another example of societal response is through International Law. International Law is a body of rules established by customs or treaty and recognised by countries as binding on one another. International Law can be viewed as a response by society to civilisation-threatening problems. On the issue of climate change, Countries across the world have responded to the issue by assenting to treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement where Governments have agreed to different climate change targets. International Law enables Governments to respond on behalf of the societies that they are representing to solve civilisation threatening problems.
Therefore, as it has been demonstrated through the examples of Law Reform and International Law, it is still ‘society’s response’ that determines whether civilisation will survive or collapse. As long as society is agile and is able to respond to its problems then we should be able to avoid collapse.
Disclaimer#
This content has been contributed by a student as part of a learning activity.
If there are inaccuracies, or opportunities for significant improvement on this topic, feedback is welcome on how to improve the resource.
You can improve articles on this topic as a student in "Unravelling Complexity", or by including the amendments in an email to: Chris.Browne@anu.edu.au