Societal collapse broadly includes both quite abrupt societal failures typified by the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, the Mayan Civilization collapse and others of the type, as well as more extended grinding declines of superpowers like the Roman empire in Western Europe and the Han Dynasty in East Asia. The great irony expressed by these and others like them is that civilizations that seem ideally designed to creatively solve problems find themselves doing so self-destructively.

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  • Societal collapse broadly includes both quite abrupt societal failures typified by the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, the Mayan Civilization collapse and others of the type, as well as more extended grinding declines of superpowers like the Roman empire in Western Europe and the Han Dynasty in East Asia. The great irony expressed by these and others like them is that civilizations that seem ideally designed to creatively solve problems find themselves doing so self-destructively. What distinguishes these more dramatic failures of human societies, seeming to deserve the term "collapse", from less dramatic long term decline is not widely agreed on. The subject also then generally includes any other long term decline of a culture, its civil institutions or other major characteristics of it as a society or a civilization, generally permanent. The coupled breakdown of economic, cultural and social institutions with ecological relationships is perhaps the most common feature of collapse. The most accessible and thorough discussions of the subject are the review of the scientific anthropology literature by J.A. Tainter and the popular but thorough book of the same title by . Although a societal collapse is generally an endpoint for that form of administering the social and economic life of a culture, it can be as another kind of change of administration of the same culture. Russian culture would seem to have outlived both the society of the Czars and the society of the Soviet Union, for example. Frequently the phenomenon is also a process of decentralization of authority after a 'classic' period of centralized social order, perhaps replaced by competing centers as the central authority weakens. Societal collapse is certainly not a benign social process, but remnants may linger long after the high culture of the society vanishes. As when the black plague contributed to breaking the hold of European feudal society on its underclass in the 1400s, societal failure may also result in a degree of empowerment for the lower levels of a former climax society, who escape from the burden of onerous taxes and control by exploitative elites. The common factors appearing to contribute to societal collapse are economic, environmental, social and cultural, but they manifest combined effects like a whole system out of balance. In many cases a natural disaster (e.g. tsunami, earthquake, massive fire or climate change) may seem to be an immediate cause. However, other cases of civilizations in similar situations that were resilient and survived the same kind of insult show that such causes are not sufficient. This is the reasoning method used by Joseph Tainter, and how he combed the evidence to weed out the insufficient causes in his thesis that societies essentially exhausted their own designs, and were unable to adapt to natural diminishing returns for what they knew as their method of survival. It matches closely Toynbee's idea that "they find problems they can't solve". The diversity of forms of societies correspond to diversity in their failures too. In other instances significant inequity may combine with lack of loyalty to a central power structure and result in an oppressed lower class rising up and taking power from a smaller wealthy elite. If there is a general "antidote" to collapse, it would seem to be societal cohesion, diversity, and adaptability.
  • El colapso societal es una quiebra a gran escala o un declive a largo plazo de la cultura, las instituciones civiles o de otras características principales de una sociedad o civilización, de forma temporal o permanente. La quiebra de las instituciones sociales y culturales es quizás la manifestación más común del colapso. Mientras que el colapso societal ha sido anteriormente considerado como el punto final de una civilización, el fenómeno es solo una descripción del proceso de cambio de dicha civilización. El colapso societal ciertamente no es un proceso social benigno, pero las sociedades pueden no acabar ni perecer cuando colapsan. Por el contrario, pueden adaptarse y renacer nuevamente. El colapso puede desembocar en un empoderamiento de las secciones más marginadas de la toma de decisiones de la sociedad en colapso. Los factores más comunes que contribuyen al colapso de la sociedad son medioambientales, sociales y culturales. Los colapsos societales normalmente provienen de la convergencia de los tres factores, pero en muchas ocasiones un factor puede ser la causa dominante. En muchos casos un desastre natural pueden causar tales estragos en una cultura que esta no pueda sostenerse a si misma más en los procesos sociales del pasado y sobreviene entonces un cambio masivo. En otras ocasiones la significativa desigualdad en la estructura social puede desembocar en un ascenso de las clases inferiores y en la toma del poder a la élite minoritaria acomodada. El colapso societal puede ocurrir a lo largo de un periodo relativamente corto de tiempo, o como resultado de un evento o de una serie de ellos que puede llevar a una despoblación significativa. Los grupos que conforman una sociedad pueden también tomar una decisión voluntaria o deliberada de dispersarse o relocalizarse lo que equivale al "colapso" de esa sociedad, o así se presenta ante la arqueología e investigaciones futuras. El colapso societal ha sido recurrente a lo largo y ancho de la historia y es un aspecto de la condición humana que puede aguardar a cada sociedad humana. El interés moderno por el supervivencialismo esta relacionado en parte con la anticipación de un posible colapso de la sociedad contemporánea.
  • Le déclin de civilisation est une idée courante selon laquelle la vie des civilisations suivrait un cycle de vie: gestation, naissance, croissance, apogée, et déclin. Les exemples à l'appui de cette thèse sont souvent : déclin de l’Empire kusana (Inde, II siècle); déclin de l'Empire romain d'Occident (V siècle); disparition des Mayas; disparition de la civilisation sur l'Île de Pâques; déclin (XIX siècle) et disparition (1923) de l'Empire ottoman déclin de la dynastie de Simashki (XX siècle); Déclin de la dynastie Chosŏn en Corée (XX siècle). L'idée d'un déclin nécessaire et définitif de toute civilisation reflète une vision anthropomorphique de la société, que l'histoire ne dément pas toujours : « Nous autres, civilisations, nous savons maintenant que nous sommes mortelles », dira Paul Valéry se penchant sur le naufrage de l'Europe pendant la Grande guerre. L'Allemagne marquée par sa défaite et l'hyperinflation essaya de répondre à cette vision en se fixant des objectifs d'une temporalité quasi-religieuse : Hitler lui promet une « domination pour toujours et de la créer pour qu'elle doive durer au moins mille ans ». Jean-Pierre Sironneau parle alors de "religion politique" (à la suite de Raymond Aron et des "religions séculières"
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  • May 2009
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  • Societal collapse broadly includes both quite abrupt societal failures typified by the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, the Mayan Civilization collapse and others of the type, as well as more extended grinding declines of superpowers like the Roman empire in Western Europe and the Han Dynasty in East Asia. The great irony expressed by these and others like them is that civilizations that seem ideally designed to creatively solve problems find themselves doing so self-destructively.
  • El colapso societal es una quiebra a gran escala o un declive a largo plazo de la cultura, las instituciones civiles o de otras características principales de una sociedad o civilización, de forma temporal o permanente. La quiebra de las instituciones sociales y culturales es quizás la manifestación más común del colapso.
  • Le déclin de civilisation est une idée courante selon laquelle la vie des civilisations suivrait un cycle de vie: gestation, naissance, croissance, apogée, et déclin.
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  • Societal collapse
  • Colapso societal
  • Déclin de civilisation
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