The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology) Reprint Edition

by Joseph A. Tainter (Author)

57 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0521386739

ISBN-10: 052138673X

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Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist, will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future. Dr. Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory that accounts for collapse among diverse kinds of societies, evaluating his model and clarifying the processes of disintegration by detailed studies of the Roman, Mayan and Chacoan collapses.

The Collapse of Complex Societies (New Studies in Archaeology)

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Product Details

Series: New Studies in Archaeology
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Reprint edition (March 30, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 052138673X
ISBN-13: 978-0521386739
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.6 x 9.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #36 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Archaeology
- #113 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Ancient
- #132 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Archaeology

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Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars

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524 of 527 people found the following review helpful

Fascinating and deeply disturbing

By Chris Stolz on May 29, 2004

Format: Paperback

Tainter's project here is to articulate his grand unifying theory to explain the strange and disturbing fact that every complex civilisation the world has ever seen has collapsed.

Tainter first elegantly disposes of the usual theories of social decline (disappearance of natural resources, invasions of barbarians, etc). He then lays out his theory of decline: as societies become more complex, the costs of meeting new challenges increase, until there comes a point where extra resources devoted to meeting new challenges produce diminihsing and then negative returns. At this point, societies become less complex (they collapse into smaller societies). For Tainter, social problems are always (ultimately) a problem of recruiting enough energy to "fuel" the increasing social complexity which is necessary to solve ever-newer problems.

Complexity, writes Tainter, describes a variety of characteristics in a number of societies. SOm aspects of complexity include many differentiated social roles, a large class of administrators not involved in the production of primary resources, energy devoted to different kinds of communication, centralised government, etc. Societies become more complex in order to solve problems. Complexity, for Tainter, is quantifiable. Where, for example, the Cherokee natives of the U.S. had about 5,000 cultural artifacts (things ranging from recipes to tools to tents) which were integral to their culture, the Allied troops landing on the Normandy coast in 1944 had about 40,000.

Herein, however, lies the rub. Since, as Tainter writes, the "number of challenges with which the Universe can confront a society is, for practical purposes, infinite," complex societies need to keep on increasing their level of complexity in order to survive new challenges.Read more ›

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103 of 105 people found the following review helpful

Scholarly but gripping

By Erik D. Curren on March 30, 2006

Format: Paperback

In contrast to Jered Diamond's "Collapse," this volume does not just focus on one theory of why societies collapse--depletion of natural resources--but presents in summary several different theories. In academic style, Tainter examines the pros and cons of each, offering a cornucopia of references that would be an invaluable source for future research.

While he sees some merit to most theories, one he holds in complete contempt, while another he tends to prefer. Tainter has no patience for "mystical" notions that societies collapse because their moral fiber has degenerated, a theory made famous by Gibbon, Spengler and Toynbee. What he does believe is that complex societies always at some point reach a stage where they become too complex, where the costs to citizens and elites alike begin to outweigh the benefits of keeping the society together. At that point, the society is vulnerable to breaking up.

This is what happened to the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century. The burden of inflation and taxes became so heavy on the populace that even the Italians began to yearn for "liberation" by barbarian tribes. And collapse is not always a bad thing: tribes like the Vandals actually governed their sections of the old empire more effectively.

So, what about us? Because of globalization, any collapse would affect all industrialized countries together. So, the US cannot collapse without either being taken over by a competitor or bringing everyone else down with us. Oil running out might be the end of our era of complexity, an anomaly in human history, but we still have time to make changes that could forestall collapse. Overall, a fresh view of history key to understanding the present.

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57 of 59 people found the following review helpful

Best explanation of the rise and fall of civilization

By Dirk J. Willard on July 19, 2008

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

What I found interesting about Joseph Tainter's treatise on civilizations is his application of economic theory to explain how they collapse. After a methodical review the two basic theories of why civilizations develop in the first place, the integration theory and the conflict theory, he launches into why he thinks economics is useful: it explains marginal returns.

In simple terms, societies are machines for solving social problems. As problems become more difficult, solutions become more complicated, eating into resources. Eventually, all societies are faced with marginal returns on their investment. Economics is a study of how supply meets demand and management of scarce resources.

Tainter begins by exploring the two concepts of civilization. Actually, it really does not matter whether you subscribe to the integration theory or the conflict theory. Economics helps explain complexity. Screw drivers exist because hammers weren't enough. Power drills were eventually developed and so on. Societies created such things as cash because lugging things around to exchange slowed commerce. Eventually, monetary policies developed to both explain transactions and allow regulation and taxation. Taxation pays for society.

Here is where the two theories on civilization diverge. Integration theory proposes that societies become more complex because of a growth in people's wants and needs. Conflict theory says that societies exist because an upper class wants to control the output of society to further their own comfort and avarice. Personally, I agree with Tainter that neither theory works, although many societies I've read about, including our own can lean in one of these directions or another. Tainter agrees that economic theory cannot explain everything.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

fascinating synthesis of archaeology and economics

Fascinating book. Tainter synthesizes knowledge from archaeology and economics and arrives at a plausible explanation for why societies develop and collapse. Read more

Published 7 months ago by J.B. Yang

Five Stars

Incredible vision

Published 7 months ago by Edward J. Kinslow, Jr.

Terrific read!

Fabulous read and detailed account of all great empires and the rise and fall of social structures and what looming elements of civilizations and it's destruction. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Judy Dobberpuhl

This could be the start of a whole new way to look at Civilization.

Sometimes the greatest brilliance is accompanied by "why didn't I see that?" and the sounds of a loud head slap. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Shane C. Pruyne

Five Stars

AAAA

Published 11 months ago by Connie Libby

Good information. Just takes the author a long time ...

Good information. Just takes the author a long time to get to the key points. History does repeat and I see the same events unfolding today in the USA.

Published 12 months ago by Sandy

It's an interesting study on complexity, its meaning and ...

It's an interesting study on complexity, its meaning and nature. The author makes a review of different theories of breakdown of societies and then, he tried to build his own... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Jorge Efraín Dardon

The law of diminishing returns applies to EVERYTHING! We are all...

A major focus of this book is the effect of the law of diminishing returns and how this can lead to the collapse of societies. Read more

Published 14 months ago by MICHAEL VONPLATO

WOW!

It was so hard to read, that I had to read it twice. My brain is not that good anymore, though I do not apparently have alzeimer's or senilie dementia YET. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Lady Of the Dark Tower

Deep book that doesn't det outdated

Despite more than 20 years passing since this book was publisghed, its significance is only increasing as we reflect more on the complexity and vulnerability of our modern... Read more

Published 20 months ago by Yasha

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