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| + | '''Civilization''' is generally refers to a form of organized life characterized by reliance on sedentary agriculture, production of food surpluses, existence division of labor, organized warfare, growth of population and social stratification. |
| − | [[Image:Manhattan panorama under clouds.jpg|thumb|220px|Midtown [[New York City]]. [[City|Cities]] are a hallmark of human civilization.]]
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| − | [[Image:Machu-Picchu.jpg|thumb|220px|The ruins of [[Machu Picchu]], "the Lost City of the Incas," has become the most recognizable symbol of the [[Inca]] civilization.]]
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| − | A '''civilization''' or '''civilisation''' is a [[society]] or [[culture]] group normally defined as a [[complex society]] characterized by the practice of [[agriculture]] and settlement in [[city|cities]].
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| − | Compared with less complex cultures, members of a civilization are often organized into a diverse [[division of labour]] and an intricate [[social hierarchy]].
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| − | The term ''civilization'' is often used as a synonym for ''culture'' in both popular and academic circles.<ref>"Civilization" (1974), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' 15th ed. Vol. II, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 956.</ref> Every human being participates in a culture, defined as "the arts, customs, habits... beliefs, values, behavior and material habits that constitute a people's way of life".<ref>"Culture", ''[[Wiktionary]]'', [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Culture]. Retrieved 25 August 2007.</ref> Civilizations can be distinguished from other cultures by their high level of social complexity and organization, and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.
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| − | The term has been defined and understood in a number of ways different from the standard definition. Sometimes it is used synonymously with the broader term ''culture''. ''Civilization'' can also refer to society as a whole. To nineteenth-century [[England|English]] [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Edward Burnett Tylor]], for example, civilization was "the total social heredity of mankind;"<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution" (1974), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' 15th ed. Vol. 4, 657.</ref> in other words, civilization was the totality of human knowledge and culture as represented by the most "advanced" society at a given time.<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution," ''Britannica'' Vol. 4, 657.</ref> ''Civilization'' can be used in a [[normative]] sense as well: if complex and urban cultures are assumed to be superior to other "savage" or "[[barbarian]]" cultures, then "civilization" is used as a synonym for "superiority of certain groups." In a similar sense, civilization can mean "refinement of thought, manners, or taste".<ref>"Civilization" (2004), ''[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'' Eleventh Edition, Merriam-Webster, Inc., 226.</ref>
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| − | However, in its most widely used definition, civilization is a descriptive term for a relatively complex agricultural and urban culture.
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| − | ==Etymology and definition==
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| − | The word ''Civilization'' comes from the [[Latin]] word ''civilis'', the [[adjective]] form of ''civis'', meaning a "[[citizen]]" or "townsman" governed by the law of his city.
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| − | In the 6th century, the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Emperor Justinian]] oversaw the consolidation of Roman [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]]. The resulting collection is called the [[Corpus Juris Civilis]]. In the 11th century, professors at the [[Bologna|University of Bologna]], [[Western Europe]]'s first [[university]], rediscovered Corpus Juris Civilis, and its influence began to be felt across Western Europe. In 1388, the word ''civil'' appeared in English meaning "of or related to citizens".<ref>"Civil", ''Merriam-Webster'', 226.</ref> In 1704, ''civilization'' began to mean "a law which makes a criminal process into a civil case." ''Civilization'' was not used in its modern sense to mean "the opposite of [[barbarian|barbarism]]" — as contrasted to ''civility'', meaning politeness or civil virtue — until the 18th century.
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| − | According to [[Emile Benveniste]] (1954<ref name=Benveniste> [[Émile Benveniste]], "''Civilization. Contribution à l'histoire du mot''" (Civilization. Contribution to the history of the word), 1954, published in ''Problèmes de linguistique générale'', [[Editions Gallimard]], 1966, pp.336-345 (translated by Mary Elizabeth Meek as ''Problems in general linguistics'', 2 vols., 1971) </ref>), the first occurrence in English of ''civilization'' in its modern sense may be found in [[Adam Ferguson]]'s ''An Essay on the History of Civil Society'' (Edinburgh, 1767 - p.2):
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| − | {{cquote|Not only the individual advances from infancy to manhood, but the species itself from rudeness to civilization.<!-- please leave original spelling -->|}}
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| − | Before Benveniste's inquiries, the [[New English Dictionary]] quoted [[James Boswell]]'s conversation with [[Samuel Johnson]] concerning the inclusion of ''Civilization'' <!-- keep original spelling please --> in Johnson's dictionary:
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| − | {{cquote|On Monday, March 23 (1772), I found him busy, preparing a fourth edition of his folio Dictionary... He would not admit ''civilization'', but only ''civility''. With great deference to him I thought ''civilization'', from ''to civilize'', better in the sense opposed to ''barbarity'' than ''civility'', as it is better to have a distinct word for each sense, than one word with two senses, which ''civility'' is, in his way of using it.}}
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| − | Benveniste demonstrated that previous occurrences could be found, which explained the quick adoption of Johnson's definition. In 1775 the dictionary of Ast defined ''civilization'' as "the state of being civilized; the act of civilizing"<ref name=Benveniste/>, and the term was frequently used by [[Adam Smith]] in ''[[An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations]]'' (1776)<ref name=Benveniste/>. Beside Smith and Ferguson, John Millar also used it in 1771 in his ''Observations concerning the distinction of ranks in society''<ref name=Benveniste/>.
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| − | As the first occurrence of ''civilization'' in French was found by Benveniste in the [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Marquis de Mirabeau's]] ''L'Ami des hommes ou traité de la population'' (written in 1756 but published in 1757), Benveniste's query was to know if the English word derived from the French, or if both evolved independently — a question which needed more researches. According to him, the word ''civilization'' may in fact have been used by Ferguson as soon as 1759<ref name=Benveniste/>.
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| − | Furthermore, Benveniste notes that, contrasted to ''civility'', a static term, ''civilization'' conveys a sense of dynamism. He thus writes that...
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| − | {{cquote|It was not only a historical view of society; it was also an optimist and resolutely non theological interpretation of its evolution which asserted itself, sometimes at the insu of those who proclaimed it, and even if some of them, and first of all Mirabeau, still counted religion as the first factor of 'civilization''.<ref>Benveniste (French): ''Ce n'était pas seulement une vue historique de la société; c'était aussi une interprétation optimiste et résolument non théologique de son évolution qui s'affirmait, parfois à l'insu de ceux qui la proclamaient, et même si certains, et d'abord Mirabeau, comptaient encore la religion comme le premier facteur de la "civilization".''</ref><ref name=Benveniste/>}}
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| − | Another source of the word may relate to chivalry: a set of rules of engagement, originally for knights in warfare, but later expanded to cover conduct of knighthood or nobility. The English 'chivalry' comes from the French 'chevalier': a horseman. England and France would therefore have given rise to the terms at similar times.
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| − | ==Characteristics==
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| − | [[Image:Sumerian 26th c Adab.jpg|thumb|26th century BC [[Sumerian]] [[cuneiform script]] in [[Sumerian language]], listing gifts to the high priestess of [[Adab]] on the occasion of her election. One of the earliest examples of human [[writing]].]]
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| − | Social scientists such as [[V. Gordon Childe]] have named a number of traits that distinguish a civilization from other kinds of society.<ref>Gordon Childe, V., ''What Happened in History'' (Penguin, 1942) and ''Man Makes Himself'' (Harmondsworth, 1951)</ref> Civilizations have been distinguished by their means of subsistence, types of livelihood, settlement patterns, forms of government, social stratification, economic systems, [[literacy]], and other cultural traits.
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| − | All human civilizations have depended on [[agriculture]] for subsistence. Growing food on farms results in a surplus of food, particularly when people use intensive agricultural techniques such as [[irrigation]] and [[crop rotation]]. [[Grain]] surpluses have been especially important because they can be [[food storage|stored]] for a long time. A surplus of food permits some people to do things besides produce food for a living: early civilizations included [[artisan]]s, [[priest]]s and priestesses, and other people with specialized careers. A surplus of food results in a division of labour and a more diverse range of human activity, a defining trait of civilizations.
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| − | Civilizations have distinctly different settlement patterns from other societies. The word ''civilization'' is sometimes defined as "a word that simply means 'living in cities'".<ref>[[Tom Standage]] (2005), ''A History of the World in 6 Glasses'', Walker & Company, 25.</ref> Non-farmers gather in cities to work and to trade.
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| − | Compared with other societies, civilizations have a more complex political structure, namely the [[state]]. State societies are more stratified than other societies; there is a greater difference among the social classes. The [[ruling class]], normally concentrated in the cities, has control over much of the surplus and exercises its will through the actions of a [[government]] or [[bureaucracy]]. [[Morton Fried]], a [[conflict theory|conflict theorist]], and [[Elman Service]], an integration theorist, have classified human cultures based on political systems and [[social inequality]]. This system of classification contains four categories:
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| − | * ''[[Hunter-gatherer]] bands'', which are generally [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]].
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| − | * ''[[horticulture|Horticultural]]/[[Pastoralism|pastoral]] societies'' in which there are generally two inherited social classes; chief and commoner.
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| − | * ''Highly stratified structures'', or [[chiefdom]]s, with several inherited social classes: king, noble, freemen, serf and slave.
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| − | * ''Civilizations,'' with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments.{{Fact|date=September 2007}}
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| − | Economically, civilizations display more complex patterns of ownership and exchange than less organized societies. Living in one place allows people to accumulate more [[personal possessions]] than nomadic people. Some people also acquire [[landed property]], or private ownership of the land. Because many people in civilizations do not grow their own food, they must [[trade]] their goods and services for food in a [[market]] system. Early civilizations developed [[money]] as a universal medium of exchange for these increasingly complex transactions.
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| − | [[Image:The'Ten Indus Scripts' discavered near the northen gateway of the citadel,Dholavira.JPG|thumb|These ten Indus scripts were discovered near the northern gate of [[Dholavira]].]]
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| − | [[Writing]], developed first by people in [[Sumer]], is considered a hallmark of civilization and "appears to accompany the rise of complex administrative bureaucracies or the conquest state."<ref>Pauketat, 169.</ref> Traders and bureaucrats relied on writing to keep accurate records. Aided by their division of labor and central government planning, civilizations have developed many other diverse cultural traits. These include organized [[religion]], development in the [[arts]], and countless new advances in [[science]] and [[technology]].
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| − | ==Cultural identity==
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| − | "Civilization" can also describe the [[culture]] of a complex society, not just the society itself. Every society, civilization or not, has a specific set of ideas and customs, and a certain set of items and arts, that make it unique. Civilizations have even more intricate cultures, including literature, professional art, architecture, organized religion, and complex customs associated with the elite. Civilization is such in nature that it seeks to spread, to have more, to expand, and the means by which to do this.
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| − | Nevertheless, some tribes or peoples remained uncivilized even to this day (2007). These cultures are called by some "[[primitive]]," a term that is regarded by others as pejorative. "Primitive" implies in some way that a culture is "first" (Latin = primus), and as all cultures are contemporaries today's so called primitive cultures are in no way antecedent to those we consider civilized. Many anthropologists use the term "[[Protohistoric archaeology|non-literate]]" to describe these peoples. In the USA and Canada, where people of such cultures were the original inhabitants before being displaced by European settlers, they use the term "[[First Nations]]." Generally, these people do not have hierarchical governments, organized religion, writing systems or money. The little hierarchy that exists, for example respect for the elderly, is mutual and not instituted by force, rather by a mutual reciprocal and customary agreement. A specialized monopolizing government does not exist, or at least the civilized version of government which most of us are familiar with.
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| − | The civilized world has been spread by [[imperialism|invasion]], [[Religious conversion|conversion]] and [[trade]], and by introducing agriculture, writing and religion to non-literate tribes. Some tribes may willingly adapt to civilized behaviour. But civilization is also spread by force: if a tribe does not wish to use agriculture or accept a certain religion it is often forced to do so by the civilized people, and they usually succeed due to their more advanced technology, and higher population densities. Civilization often uses religion to justify its actions, claiming for example that the uncivilized are "primitive," savages, barbarians or the like, which should be subjugated by civilization.
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| − | The intricate culture associated with civilization has a tendency to spread to and influence other cultures, sometimes assimilating them into the civilization (a classic example being [[China|Chinese]] civilization and its influence on [[Korea]], [[Japan]], [[Vietnam]], and so forth), all of them sharing the fact that they belong to an East Asian civilization, sharing Confucianism, Mahayana Buddhism, a "[[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|Mandarin]]" class an educated understanding of Chinese ideograms and much else. Many civilizations are actually large cultural spheres containing many nations and regions. The civilization in which someone lives is that person's broadest cultural identity.
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| − | Whereas the etiology of civilization is Latin or Roman, defined above as the application of justice by "civil" means, one may also examine and reflect upon Jewish or Hebrew civilization. A Hebrew "civilization" is defined not as an expression or extension of the subjective trappings of culture and society, but rather as a human society and/or culture being an expression of objective moral and ethical moorings as they are known, understood and applied in accordance with the Mosaic Covenant.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} A "human" civilization, in Hebrew terms for instance, may contrast sharply with conventional notions about "civilization." A "human" civilization, therein, would be an expression and extension of the two most basic pillars of human "civilization." These two pillars are, honest standardized weights and measures and a moral and healthy constitution. Everything else, whether technology, science, art, music, etc., is by this definition considered as ''commentary''. Indeed, to the degree the surface terrain of a human society, i.e., culture is "civilized," is to the degree the internal terrain (characteristics, personality or substance) of the people and leadership must also have been inoculated by, and inculcated with a moral foundation. The Biblically described Sodom, for instance, while being a society comprised of people with a culture, would by Jewish or Biblical standards of "civility" have been uncivilized. And while the Roman sentiment is largely focused upon how justice must "appear" to be done in a "civil" manner, the Hebrew or Biblical approach to justice, in principle, is never limited to subjective pretenses or appearance, but more importantly, justice must be predicated upon objective principles. Ultimately, there is no true or lasting "civility" for any man in the absence of moral composure.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
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| − | Many historians have focused on these broad cultural spheres and have treated civilizations as single units. One example is early twentieth-century philosopher [[Oswald Spengler]],<ref>Spengler, Oswald, ''Decline of the West: Perspectives of World History'' (1919)</ref> even though he uses the German word "Kultur," "culture," for what we here call a "civilization." He said that a civilization's coherence is based around a single primary cultural symbol. Civilizations experience cycles of birth, life, decline and death, often supplanted by a new civilization with a potent new culture, formed around a compelling new cultural symbol.
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| − | This "unified culture" concept of civilization also influenced the theories of historian [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] in the mid-twentieth century. Toynbee explored civilization processes in his multi-volume ''[[A Study of History]],'' which traced the rise and, in most cases, the decline of 21 civilizations and five "arrested civilizations." Civilizations generally declined and fell, according to Toynbee, because of moral or religious decline, rather than economic or environmental causes.
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| − | [[Samuel P. Huntington]] similarly defines a civilization as "the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species." Besides giving a definition of a civilization, Huntington has also proposed several theories about civilizations, discussed [[#The future of civilizations|below]].
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| − | ==Complex systems==
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| − | {{context}}
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| − | Another group of theorists, making use of [[systems theory]], look at civilizations as [[complex systems]] or networks of cities that emerge from pre-urban cultures, and are defined by the economic, political, military, diplomatic, and cultural interactions between them.
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| − | For example, urbanist [[Jane Jacobs]] defines cities as the economic engines that work to create large networks of people. The main process that creates these city networks, she says, is "import replacement". Import replacement is the process by which peripheral cities begin to replace goods and services that were formerly imported from more advanced cities. Successful import replacement creates economic growth in these peripheral cities, and allows these cities to then export their goods to less developed cities in their own hinterlands, creating new economic networks. So Jacobs explores economic development across wide networks instead of treating each society as an isolated cultural sphere.
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| − | Systems theorists look at many types of relations between cities, including economic relations, cultural exchanges, and political/diplomatic/military relations. These spheres often occur on different scales. For example, trade networks were, until the nineteenth century, much larger than either cultural spheres or political spheres. Extensive trade routes, including the [[Silk Road]] through [[Central Asia]] and [[Indian Ocean]] sea routes linking the [[Roman Empire]], [[Persian Empire]], [[India]], and [[China]], were well established 2000 years ago, when these civilizations scarcely shared any political, diplomatic, military, or cultural relations. The first evidence of such long distance trade is in the ancient world. During the Uruk phase Guillermo Algaze has argued that trade relations connected Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran and Afghanistan.<ref>Algaze, Guillermo, ''The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization''" (Second Edition, 2004) (ISBN 978-0-226-01382-4)</ref> Resin found later in the [http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/tombs/index.html Royal Tombs of Ur] it is suggested was traded northwards from Mozambique.
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| − | Many theorists argue that the entire world has already become integrated into a single "[[world-system theory|world system]]", a process known as [[globalization]]. Different civilizations and societies all over the globe are economically, politically, and even culturally interdependent in many ways. There is debate over when this integration began, and what sort of integration – cultural, technological, economic, political, or military-diplomatic – is the key indicator in determining the extent of a civilization. David Wilkinson has proposed that economic and military-diplomatic integration of the [[Mesopotamia]]n and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] civilizations resulted in the creation of what he calls the "Central Civilization" around 1500 BC.<ref>Wilkinson, David, ''[http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol10/number3/pdf/jwsr-v10n3-wilkinson.pdf The Power Configuration Sequence of the Central World System, 1500-700 BC]'' (2001) </ref> Central Civilization later expanded to include the entire Middle East and Europe, and then expanded to a global scale with European colonization, integrating the Americas, Australia, China and Japan by the nineteenth century. According to Wilkinson, civilizations can be culturally heterogeneous, like the Central Civilization, or relatively homogeneous, like the Japanese civilization. What Huntington calls the "clash of civilizations" might be characterized by Wilkinson as a clash of cultural spheres within a single global civilization. Others point to the [[Crusades]] as the first step in globalization. The more conventional viewpoint is that networks of societies have expanded and shrunk since ancient times, and that the current globalized economy and culture is a product of recent European colonialism.
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| − | ==Future==
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| − | {{See also|Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth}}
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| − | Political scientist [[Samuel Huntington]]<ref>Huntington, Samuel P., ''The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order'', (Simon & Schuster, 1996)</ref> has argued that the defining characteristic of the 21st century will be a [[clash of civilizations]]. According to Huntington, conflicts between civilizations will supplant the conflicts between [[nation-state]]s and ideologies that characterized the 19th and 20th centuries.
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| − | Currently, world civilization is in a stage that has created what may be characterized as an [[industrial society]], superseding the [[agrarian society]] that preceded it. Some futurists believe that civilization is undergoing another transformation, and that world society will become a so-called [[informational society]].
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| − | Some environmental scientists see the world entering a [[Planetary Phase of Civilization]], characterized by a shift away from independent, disconnected nation-states to a world of increased global connectivity with worldwide institutions, environmental challenges, economic systems, and consciousness.<ref>[http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/oo/sidebars/America/Rockefeller.html Orion > Thoughts on America<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.kosmosjournal.org/kjo/backissue/s2006/laszlo-1.shtml Kosmos Journal Paths to Planetary Civilization<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In an attempt to better understand what a Planetary Phase of Civilization might look like in the current context of declining natural resources and increasing consumption, the [[Global scenario group]] used [[scenario analysis]] to arrive at three archetypal futures: Barbarization, in which increasing conflicts result in either a fortress world or complete societal breakdown; Conventional Worlds, in which market forces or [[Policy reform]] slowly precipitate more sustainable practices; and a Great Transition, in which either the sum of fragmented [[Eco-Communalism]] movements add up to a sustainable world or globally coordinated efforts and initiatives result in a new sustainability paradigm.<ref>http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/Great_Transitions.pdf</ref>
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| − | The [[Kardashev scale]] classifies civilizations based on their level of technological advancement, specifically measured by the amount of energy a civilization is able to harness. The Kardashev scale makes provisions for civilizations far more technologically advanced than any currently known to exist. ''(see also: [[Civilizations and the Future]], [[Space civilization]])''
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| − | ==The fall of civilizations==
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| − | {{main|Societal collapse}}
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| − | There have been many explanations put forward for the collapse of civilization.
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| − | '''[[Edward Gibbon|Edward Gibbon's]]''' massive work ''"[[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]"'' began an interest in the Fall of Civilizations, that had begun with the [[historical divisions]] of [[Petrarch]]<ref>http://www.artsci.lsu.edu/voegelin/EVS/Panel72001.htm|Petrarch</ref> between the [[Classical antiquity|Classical period]] of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Rome]], the succeeding [[Middle Ages|Medieval Ages]], and the [[Renaissance]]. For Gibbon:-
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| − | ''"The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight. The story of the ruin is simple and obvious; and instead of inquiring why the Roman Empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it has subsisted for so long."''[Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 2nd ed., vol. 4, ed. by J. B. Bury (London, 1909), pp. 173-174.] Gibbon suggested the final act of the collapse of Rome was the fall of [[Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Turks]] in 1453 AD.
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| − | '''[[Theodor Mommsen]]''' in his ''"[[History of Rome]]",'' suggested Rome collapsed with the collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]] in 476 AD and he also tended towards a biological analogy of "genesis," "growth," "senescence," "collapse" and "decay."
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| − | '''[[Oswald Spengler]]''', in his ''"[[Decline of the West]]"'' rejected [[Petrarch]]'s chronological division, and suggested that there had been only eight "mature civilizations." Growing cultures, he argued, tend to develop into imperialistic civilizations which expand and ultimately collapse, with democratic forms of government ushering in [[plutocracy]] and ultimately [[imperialism]].
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| − | '''[[Arnold J. Toynbee]]''' in his ''"[[A Study of History]]"'' suggested that there had been a much larger number of civilizations, including a small number of [[arrested civilizations]], and that all civilizations tended to go through the cycle identified by Mommsen. The cause of the fall of a civilization occurred when a [[cultural elite]] became a [[parasitic elite]], leading to the rise of internal and external [[proletariat]]s.
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| − | '''[[Joseph Tainter]]''' in ''"[[Societal collapse|The Collapse of Complex Societies]]"'' suggested that there were [[diminishing returns]] to [[complexity]], due to which, as states achieved a maximum permissible complexity, they would decline when further increases actually produced a negative return. Tainter suggested that Rome achieved this figure in the 2nd Century AD.
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| − | '''[[Jared Diamond]]''' in his recent book ''"[[Collapse (book)|Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed]]"'' suggests five major reasons for the collapse of 41 studied cultures.
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| − | * Environmental damage, such as [[deforestation]] and [[soil erosion]]
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| − | * [[Climate change]]
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| − | * Dependence upon [[international trade|long-distance trade]] for needed resources
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| − | * Increasing levels of internal and external violence, such as war or invasion
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| − | * Societal responses to internal and environmental problems
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| − | '''[[Peter Turchin]]''' in his [http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/faculty/turchin/HistDyn.htm ''Historical Dynamics''] and '''[[Andrey Korotayev]]''' ''et al.'' in their [http://urss.ru/cgi-bin/db.pl?cp=&page=Book&id=37484&lang=en&blang=en&list=Found ''Introduction to Social Macrodynamics, Secular Cycles, and Millennial Trends''] suggest a number of mathematical models describing collapse of agrarian civilizations. For example, the basic logic of Turchin's "fiscal-demographic" model can be outlined as follows: during the initial phase of a sociodemographic [[Social cycle theory|cycle]] we observe relatively high levels of per capita production and consumption, which leads not only to relatively high [[population growth]] rates, but also to relatively high rates of surplus production. As a result, during this phase the population can afford to pay taxes without great problems,
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| − | the taxes are quite easily collectible, and the population growth is accompanied by the growth of state revenues. During the intermediate phase, the increasing [[overpopulation]] leads to the decrease of per capita production and consumption levels, it becomes more and more difficult to collect taxes, and state revenues stop growing, whereas the state expenditures grow due to the growth of the population controlled by the state. As a result, during this phase the state starts experiencing considerable fiscal problems. During the final pre-collapse phases the overpopulation leads to further decrease of per capita production, the surplus production further decreases, state revenues shrink, but the state needs more and more resources to control the growing (though with lower and lower rates) population. Eventually this leads to famines, epidemics, state breakdown, and demographic and civilization collapse (Peter Turchin. ''Historical Dynamics.'' Princeton University Press, 2003:121–127).
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| − | '''[[Peter Heather]]''' argues in his book ''[[The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians]]''<ref>ISBN 0195159543</ref> that this civilization did not end for moral or economic reasons, but because centuries of contact with barbarians across the frontier generated its own nemesis by making them a much more sophisticated and dangerous adversary. The fact that Rome needed to generate ever greater revenues to equip and re-equip armies that were for the first time repeatedly defeated in the field, led to the dismemberment of the Empire. Although this argument is specific to Rome, it can also be applied to the Asiatic Empire of the Egyptians, to the [[Han Dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] dynasties of China, to the Muslim [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and others.
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| − | '''[[Bryan Ward-Perkins]]''', in his book ''[[The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization]]''<ref>ISBN 0192807285</ref> shows the real horrors associated with the collapse of a civilization for the people who suffer its effects, unlike many revisionist historians who downplay this. The collapse of complex society meant that even basic plumbing disappeared from the continent for 1,000 years. Similar [[Greek dark ages|Dark Age]] collapses are seen with the Late [[Bronze Age collapse]] in the Eastern Mediterranean, the collapse of the [[Maya civilization|Maya]], on [[Easter Island]] and elsewhere.
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| − | '''[[Arthur Demarest]]''' argues in ''[[Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization]]''<ref>ISBN 0521533902 </ref>, using a holistic perspective to the most recent evidence from archaeology, [[paleoecology]], and epigraphy, that no one explanation is sufficient but that a series of erratic, complex events, including loss of soil fertility, drought and rising levels of internal and external violence led to the disintegration of the courts of Mayan kingdoms which began a spiral of decline and decay. He argues that the collapse of the Maya has lessons for civilization today.
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| − | '''Jeffrey A. McNeely''' has recently suggested that "A review of historical evidence shows that past civilizations have tended to over-exploit their forests, and that such abuse of important resources has been a significant factor in the decline of the over-exploiting society."<ref>McNeely, Jeffrey A. (1994) "Lessons of the past: Forests and Biodiversity" (Vol 3, No 1 1994. Biodiversity and Conservation)</ref>
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| − | '''[[Thomas Homer-Dixon]]''' in "[http://www.theupsideofdown.com ''The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization'']", considers that the fall in the [[EROEI|energy return on investments]]; the energy expended to energy yield ratio, is central to limiting the survival of civilizations. The degree of social complexity is associated strongly, he suggests, with the amount of disposable energy environmental, economic and technological systems allow. When this amount decreases civilizations either have to access new energy sources or they will collapse.
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| − | ==Criticism==
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| − | {{unsourcedsection|date=February 2008}}
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| − | Civilization has been criticized from a variety of viewpoints and for a variety of reasons. Some critics have objected to all aspects of civilization; others have argued that civilization brings a mixture of good and bad effects.
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| − | Many [[environmentalism|environmentalists]] criticize civilizations for their exploitation of the environment. Through intensive agriculture and urban growth, civilizations tend to destroy natural settings and habitats. This is sometimes referred to as "dominator culture". Proponents of this view believe that traditional societies live in greater harmony with nature than civilizations; people work with nature rather than try to subdue it. The [[sustainable living]] movement is a push from some members of civilization to regain that harmony with nature.
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| − | | + | |
| − | [[Anarcho-primitivism|Primitivism]] is a modern philosophy totally opposed to civilization. Primitivists accuse civilizations of restricting human potential, oppressing the weak, and damaging the environment. They wish to return to a more primitive way of life which they consider to be in the best interests of both nature and human beings. Leading proponents are [[John Zerzan]] and [[Derrick Jensen]], whereas a critic is [[Roger Sandall]].
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| − | However, not all critics of past and present civilization believe that a primitive way of life is better. Some have argued that many negative aspects of current 'civilized' nations can be overcome. [[Karl Marx]], for instance, argued that the beginning of civilization was the beginning of [[oppression]] and [[exploitation]], but also believed that these things would eventually be overcome and [[communism]] would be established throughout the world.
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| − | He envisioned communism not as a return to any sort of idyllic past, but as a ''new'' stage of civilization.
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| − | [[Conflict theory]] in the social sciences also views the present form of civilization as being based on the domination of some people by others, but does not judge the issue morally.
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| − | | + | |
| − | Given the current problems with the sustainability of industrial civilization, some, like [[Derrick Jensen]], who posits civilization to be inherently unsustainable, argue that we need to develop a social form of "post-civilization" as different from civilization as the latter was with pre-civilized peoples.
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| − | | + | |
| − | ==History==
| + | |
| − | ===Prehistory===
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| − | ====Old World====
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| − | {{see|Cradle of Civilization|Bronze Age}}
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| − | [[Image:Fertile Crescent map.png|thumb|right|The [[Fertile Crescent]].]]
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| − | *[[Sumer]]: The [[Mesopotamian]] civilization of Sumer is widely accepted as the first complex civilization to develop on [[Earth]].
| + | |
| − | *[[Ancient Near East]]
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| − | **[[Ancient Egypt]]
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| − | **[[Mesopotamia]]/[[Sumer]]
| + | |
| − | **[[Levant]]/[[Canaan]]
| + | |
| − | **[[Elam]]
| + | |
| − | **[[Minoan civilization]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Prehistoric Armenia]]
| + | |
| − | *[[The Indian Civilization and all of its languages were invented after the creation and overall usage of the lating, english and spanish texts]]
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| − | *[[Helladic period]] Ancient Greece
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| − | *[[History of China|Ancient China]]
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| − | *[[La Tène]] Celts
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| − | | + | |
| − | ====New World====
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| − | [[Image:PeruCaral01.jpg|thumb|[[Caral]] of the Norte Chico, the oldest known civilization in the Western Hemisphere.]]
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| − | *[[Norte Chico civilization|Norte Chico]], [[Caral]], or Caral-[[Supe Puerto|Supe]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | *[[Olmec]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Toltec]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Aztec|Aztec civilization]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Maya civilization]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Inca Empire]]
| + | |
| − | *[[Zapotec civilization]]
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| − | | + | |
| − | === Classical Antiquity ===
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| − | | + | |
| − | [[Karl Jaspers]], the German historical philosopher, proposed that the ancient civilizations were affected greatly by an [[Axial Age]] in the period between 600 BCE-400 BCE during which a series of male sages, prophets, religious reformers and philosophers, from China, India, Iran, Israel and Greece, changed the direction of civilizations forever<ref>Tarnas, Richard (1993) "The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View" (Ballatine Books)</ref>. [[Julian Jaynes]] proposed that this was associated with the "collapse of the [[bicameral mind]]", during which subconscious ideas were recognized as simply subjective, rather than being voices of spirits. [[William H. McNeill]] proposed that this period of history was one in which culture contact between previously separate civilizations saw the "closure of the [[oecumene]]", and led to accelerated social change from China to the Mediterranean, associated with the spread of coinage, larger empires and new religions. This view has recently been championed by Christopher Chase-Dunn and other [[world systems theory|world systems theorists]].
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| − | | + | |
| − | Civilizations affected by these developments include
| + | |
| − | * Mediterranean Civilizations of the [[Classical Period]]
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| − | :* [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Hellenism|Hellenic]] civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Phoenicia]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[The Roman Empire]]
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| − | :* [[Second Temple]] [[Judaism]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[La Tène]] [[Celts]]
| + | |
| − | * Middle Eastern Civilizations
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| − | :* [[Iranian Civilization]] since the [[Achaemenids]]
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| − | :* [[Phoenician]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Islam]]ic Civilizations
| + | |
| − | :* [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] and [[Armenia]]n Civilizations
| + | |
| − | * Indian [[Hindu]] and [[Buddhist]] Civilizations
| + | |
| − | :* [[Mauryan]] and Post-Mauryan [[Indian History|Indian]] Civilization
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| − | :* [[Gupta Empire]] in [[North India]]
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| − | :* [[Chola Empire]] in [[South India]]
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| − | :* Civilizations of [[ancient Ceylon]]
| + | |
| − | * East Asian Civilizations
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| − | :* [[Chinese History|Chinese]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Korean History|Korean]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Vietnamese History|Vietnamese]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[History of Japan|Japanese]] Civilization
| + | |
| − | * The Civilizations of South East Asia
| + | |
| − | :* [[Funan]] and [[Chen-la]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[Angkor]] [[History of Cambodia|Cambodia]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[Sri Vijaya]], [[Singhasari]] and [[Majapahit]] Civilizations
| + | |
| − | :* [[History of Burma|Burmese]], [[History of Thailand|Thai]] and [[History of Laos|Lao]] Civilizations
| + | |
| − | * Central Asian Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Tibet]]an Civilization
| + | |
| − | :* [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] and [[Mongol]] Civilizations
| + | |
| − | * European Civilizations
| + | |
| − | :* [[Western Christendom]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[Byzantium]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Christendom]]
| + | |
| − | :* [[History of Russia|Russian]] Civilization
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| − | | + | |
| − | Since the voyages of discovery by European explorers of the 15th and 16th century, another development has occurred whereby which European forms of government, industry, commerce and culture have spread from Western Europe, to the Americas, South Africa, Australia, and through colonial empires, to the rest of the planet. Today it would appear that we are all parts of a planetary industrializing world civilization, divided between many nations and languages.
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| − | | + | |
| − | ==See also==
| + | |
| − | {{wiktionary}}
| + | |
| − | * [[Human population]]
| + | |
| − | * [[History of the world]]
| + | |
| − | * The [[Holocene calendar]], which uses a dating system similar to astronomical year numbering but adds 10,000, placing a zero at the start of the ''Human Era'' (HE, the beginning of human civilization cca. 11,500 years ago), approximating the [[Holocene Epoch]] (HE, post Ice Age) and spanning the whole of civilization, for easier [[geological]], [[archaeological]], [[dendrochronological]] and [[historical]] dating.
| + | |
| − | *[[Kardashev scale]]
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ==References==
| + | |
| − | <!-- ----------------------------------------------------------
| + | |
| − | See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for a
| + | |
| − | discussion of different citation methods and how to generate
| + | |
| − | footnotes using the <ref>, </ref> and <reference /> tags
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| − | ----------------------------------------------------------- -->
| + | |
| − | ===Notes===
| + | |
| − | {{reflist|2}}
| + | |
| − | | + | |
| − | ===Bibliography===
| + | |
| − | *{{cite book|last= Ankerl |first= Guy |title= Global communication without universal civilization |origyear= 2000 |series= INU societal research |volume= Vol.1: Coexisting contemporary civilizations : Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western |publisher= INU Press |location= Geneva |isbn= 2-88155-004-5 |pages= }}
| + | |
| − | * [http://www.clashofcivilisations.com/ Clash of Civilizations and information on other civilizations], Discussion and news surrounding the clash and concepts such as dialog, equality, acceptance etc between civilizations.
| + | |
| − | * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/interactive/civilisations/ BBC on civilization]
| + | |
| − | * Wiktionary: [[wiktionary:civilization|civilization]], [[wiktionary:civilize|civilize]]
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Brinton | first = Crane (et al.) | authorlink = Crane Brinton | year = 1984 | title = A History of Civilization: Prehistory to 1715 | edition = 6th ed. | publisher = Prentice-Hall | location = Englewood Cliffs, N.J. | id = ISBN 0-13-389866-0}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Casson | first = Lionel | year = 1994 | title = Ships and Seafaring in Ancient Times | publisher = British Museum Press | location = London | id = ISBN 0-7141-1735-8}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Chisholm | first = Jane | coauthors = and Anne Millard | year = 1991 | title = Early Civilization | others = illus. Ian Jackson | publisher = Usborne | location = London | id = ISBN 1-58086-022-2}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Collcutt | first = Martin | coauthors = Marius Jansen, and Isao Kumakura | year = 1988 | title = Cultural Atlas of Japan | publisher = Facts on File | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-8160-1927-4}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Drews | first = Robert | year = 1993 | title = The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C. | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton | id = ISBN 0-691-04811-8}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Edey | first = Maitland A. | year = 1974 | title = The Sea Traders | publisher = Time-Life Books | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-7054-0060-3}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Fairservis | first = Walter A., Jr. | year = 1975 | title = The Threshold of Civilization: An Experiment in Prehistory | publisher = Scribner | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-684-12775-X}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Fernández-Armesto | first = Felipe | authorlink = Felipe Fernández-Armesto | year = 2000 | title = Civilizations | publisher = Macmillan | location = London | id = ISBN 0-333-90171-1}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Ferrill | first = Arther | year = 1985 | title = The Origins of War: From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great | publisher = Thames and Hudson | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-500-25093-6}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Fitzgerald | first = C. P. | year = 1969 | title = The Horizon History of China | publisher = American Heritage | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-8281-0005-5}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Fuller | first = J. F. C. | authorlink = J.F.C. Fuller | year = 1954-57 | title = A Military History of the Western World | others = 3 vols. | publisher = Funk & Wagnalls | location = New York}}
| + | |
| − | *# ''From the Earliest Times to the Battle of Lepanto.'' ISBN 0-306-80304-6 (1987 reprint).
| + | |
| − | *# ''From the Defeat of the Spanish Armada to the Battle of Waterloo.'' ISBN 0-306-80305-4 (1987 reprint).
| + | |
| − | *# ''From the American Civil War to the End of World War II.'' ISBN 0-306-80306-2 (1987 reprint).
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Gowlett | first = John | year = 1984 | title = Ascent to Civilization | publisher = Collins | location = London | id = ISBN 0-00-217090-6}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Hawkes | first = Jacquetta | authorlink = Jacquetta Hawkes | year = 1968 | title = Dawn of the Gods | publisher = Chatto & Windus | location = London | id = ISBN 0-7011-1332-4}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Hawkes | first = Jacquetta | coauthors = with David Trump | year = 1976 | title = The Atlas of Early Man | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | location = London | id = ISBN 0-312-09746-8 (1993 reprint)}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Hicks | first = Jim | year = 1974 | title = The Empire Builders | publisher = Time-Life Books | location = New York}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Hicks | first = Jim | year = 1975 | title = The Persians | publisher = Time-Life Books | location = New York}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Johnson | first = Paul | authorlink = Paul Johnson (writer) | year = 1987 | title = A History of the Jews | publisher = Weidenfeld and Nicolson | location = London | id = ISBN 0-297-79091-9}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Jensen | first = Derrick | authorlink = Derrick Jensen | year = 2006 | title = [[Endgame (Derrick Jensen books)|Endgame]] | publisher = Seven Stories Press | location = New York | id = ISBN 978-1-58322-730-5}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Keppie | first = Lawrence | year = 1984 | title = The Making of the Roman Army: From Republic to Empire | publisher = Barnes & Noble | location = Totowa, N.J. | id = ISBN 0-389-20447-1}}
| + | |
| − | * [[Korotayev]], Andrey, ''World Religions and Social Evolution of the Old World Oikumene Civilizations: A Cross-Cultural Perspective''. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004. ISBN 0-7734-6310-0
| + | |
| − | * [[Nikolay Kradin|Kradin, Nikolay]]. Archaeological Criteria of Civilization. ''[[Social Evolution & History]]'', Vol. 5, No 1 (2006): 89-108. ISSN 1681-4363.
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Lansing | first = Elizabeth | year = 1971 | title = The Sumerians: Inventors and Builders | publisher = McGraw-Hill | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-07-036357-9}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Lee | first = Ki-Baik | year = 1984 | title = A New History of Korea | others = trans. Edward W. Wagner, with Edward J. Shultz | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge | id = ISBN 0-674-61575-1}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Nahm | first = Andrew C. | year = 1983 | title = A Panorama of 5000 Years: Korean History | publisher = Hollym International | location = Elizabeth, N.J. | id = ISBN 0-930878-23-X}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Oliphant | first = Margaret | year = 1992 | title = The Atlas of the Ancient World: Charting the Great Civilizations of the Past | publisher = Ebury | location = London | id = ISBN 0-09-177040-8}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Rogerson | first = John | year = 1985 | title = Atlas of the Bible | publisher = Facts on File | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-8160-1206-7}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Sandall | first = Roger | authorlink = Roger Sandall | year = 2001 | title = The Culture Cult: Designer Tribalism and Other Essays | publisher = Westview | location = Boulder, Colo. | id = ISBN 0-8133-3863-8}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = George | year = 1958 | title = A History of Japan: To 1334 | publisher = Stanford University Press | location = Stanford | id = ISBN 0-8047-0523-2 (1996 reprint)}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Southworth | first = John Van Duyn | year = 1968 | title = The Ancient Fleets: The Story of Naval Warfare Under Oars, 2600 B.C.–1597 A.D. | publisher = Twayne | location = New York}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Thomas | first = Hugh | authorlink = Hugh Thomas (historian) | year = 1981 | title = An Unfinished History of the World | edition = rev. ed. | publisher = Pan | location = London | id = ISBN 0-330-26458-3}}
| + | |
| − | * {{cite book | last = Yap | first = Yong | coauthors = and Arthur Cotterell | year = 1975 | title = The Early Civilization of China | publisher = Putnam | location = New York | id = ISBN 0-399-11595-1}}
| + | |
| − | * A. Nuri Yurdusev, International Relations and the Philosophy of History: A Civilizational Approach (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
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| − | ===External links===
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| − | {{Human}}
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| − | | + | |
| − | [[Category:Civilizations|Civilizations]]
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| − | [[Category:Cultural anthropology]]
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| − | [[Category:Cultural history]]
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| − | [[Category:Society]]
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| − | [[Category:Theories of history]]
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| − | [[Category:Sociocultural evolution]]
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| − | [[Category:Cultural geography]]
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| | + | {{stub}} |
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