Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Collapse: How Societies Fail or Succeed is a book published in 2005 Book of American geography professor Jared M. Diamond. Collapse is about the reasons for the collapse of several investigated historical societies, their similarities and the lessons that can be drawn from today's society.

Summary

In the introduction Diamond collapse summarizes as follows:

" In this book I use the comparative method to understand society collapses to which environmental problems have contributed. In my previous book rich and poor - The fates of human societies I have by the same method, the reverse question examined: why companies have risen so at different rates during the last 13,000 years on the various continents. In this book I focus not on the upswing, but the collapse; I compare many companies in the past and the present in terms of the differences in environmental sensitivity, relations with neighbors, political institutions and other " output variables " that affect the theory of stability. The " outcome variables " that I examine are collapse or survival, and the form of the collapse if such takes place. By I create a relationship between outcome variables and output variables, I want to make the influence of potential output variables arrest the collapse. "

Argument

Diamond makes five main reasons that have led to the collapse of the examined him historical societies:

Already on the list can be seen that his investigations Diamond constrict to environmental problems, but also investigates the interaction of environmental and human action.

Environmental damage includes deforestation and consequent soil erosion. But the soil salinity due to incorrect irrigation and declining soil fertility through to intensive management. Diamond uses the example of Easter Island, that the damages go to total deforestation.

Climate fluctuations were at the time of the societies studied natural phenomena. The climate fluctuates often at intervals that are larger than the generation time of the people of that time. Due to the lack of a font so the knowledge of climate variability was often lost. Thus, it was difficult for the companies to adapt to the phenomenon. In particular, a many years lasting favorable climate lead to a growing population. Then go the climate in a less favorable phase, the larger population could possibly be no longer nourished and this causing social tensions lead to self- destruction of society. In addition, climate change has already resulting from the environmental damage problems massively increase.

Companies were also in historical times rarely isolated. In addition to hostile neighbors, whose contribution to the downfall of society is obvious, even trading partners play an important role. Diamond shows the example of Henderson Island, such as the loss of a strategically important trading partner can have a society completely disappear.

Diamonds arguments and many of his examples were by no means new. Similarly, had already in the 1950s, the German non-fiction author and environmental activist Erich Horn Man, among other things in his books ... otherwise downfall. The earth response to the violation of their laws (1951 ), The Forest. A foundation of our existence (1955 ) and water. A problem every time (1956 ) expressed.

View

In view of the future, he identifies four factors that can contribute to the weakening and downfall of current and future societies:

A crucial role always plays for Diamonds consideration the existence of a concrete overpopulation. Because of society would be faced with life-threatening changes in their environment, they would not die passively, but to survive in trying the parts of society threaten that were not previously affected and possibly mentioned in false security. Not only the non-performing part, but the close-knit society as a whole collapses in a fast disaster and experiences a " collapse".

Jared Diamond sees our world society caused by globalization - which can reject no escape - in that very danger.

Diamond therefore not claim that irreversible ecological factors the only cause of the collapse of societies are also political and economic factors - that ultimately especially the response to the ecological conditions - constitute the basic

Outline of the book

Collapse is divided into four sections.

Contraindications As guarantee he gives examples of ancient societies that had backed up by a clever response to changes in their survival ( such as the reforestation of forests in Japan during the Tokugawa era )

• Part 3 examines today's societies (eg Rwanda, China and Australia ) and their threat level.
• Part 4 attempts to find out the various examples a lesson for today. A series of measures are proposed, which may cause our up " on a non- sustainable course " located company bypass the twelve problems of non- sustainability, which he identifies in the book.

As a result of his investigation Diamond looks despite its devastating total diagnostic " signs of hope " and reason for " cautious optimism " for the future, because in spite of great danger a wise response to the changing overall conditions of the ecological world conditions is still theoretically possible.

Expenditure

• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking, 2004, ISBN 0-670-03337-5; Penguin, 2005, ISBN 0-14-303655-6 ( Paperback )

• Collapse. Why survive or perish companies. From the American Sebastian bird. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-10-013904-6
• Fischer -Taschenbuch -Verlag, Frankfurt 2006, ISBN 978-3-596-16730-2