XR Belgium

Do civilizations have tipping points that determine their rise and fall? Untangling how and why civilizations fall could, in theory, help humanity avoid a future calamitous collapse. “The reason why complex societies disintegrate is of vital importance to every member of one, and today that includes nearly the entire world population,” Tainter wrote. “Whether or not collapse was the most outstanding event of ancient history, few would care for it to become the most significant event of the present era.”

Professor Joseph Tainter is an American anthropologist and historian studied anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Northwestern University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1975. As of 2012 he holds a professorship in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University. In this interview Professor Tainter discusses the thesis of his widely acclaimed work “The Collapse of Complex Societies”, 25 years after its publication in 1988. His book is among great classics of the study of collapse. In my view a work whose quality and relevance is comparable to Limits to Growth.

Grégoire Chambaz est chargé de recherche à Unisanté (Lausanne) et rédacteur adjoint à la revue Militaire Suisse (RMS). Dans cette intervention, il partage sa synthèse des travaux de l'anthropologue Joseph Tainter sur l'évolution et l'effondrement des sociétés complexes.

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Les civilisations ne sont pas éternelles. Elles ne peuvent pas s'étendre et se complexifier indéfiniment. Malgré ses illusions de toute-puissance, la nôtre subit aussi la loi des rendements décroissants : nous engloutissons toujours plus de ressources pour ne pas faire que maintenir un état stationnaire. Jusqu'à quand ? Joseph Tainter, historien et anthropologue qui a étudié l'effondrement de sociétés passées, apporte des réponses.

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