HISTORY 114
CIVILISATION
PROFESSOR S. SWART
Class Notes from this section
WHAT IS A CIVILISATION?
• Social hierarchy
• Division of labour
• Form of human culture (where many people live in urban centres)
• The first civilisations began in cities
• Civilisation is a normative or judgemental word’’
WHY DO CIVILISATIONS COLLAPSE?
• Patterns of growth and decline
• Decline can be either gradual or rapid
• War, drought, natural disasters and overpopulation
• Economic disruption
• Combination of external and internal causes
Know the technical aspects and be able to give examples.
ENVIRONMENTAL THEORIES
The depletion of a vital resource or resources which then leads to instability.
NATURAL CATASTROPHE
Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, disease, epidemics.
Also ideas like Mythical Atlantis and the Biblical flood.
OTHER COMPLEX SOCIETIES
Competition with other complex societies.
SOCIAL DYSFUNCTION OR MYSTICAL REASONS
Mysteries and internal processes.
ELITE MISMANAGEMENT
Increasing state authoritarianism.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Increase in costliness.
CHANCE CONCATENATION OF EVENTS
No single explanation. There are several factors, both internal and external, which worked together.
CIVILISATION
PROFESSOR S. SWART
Class Notes from this section
WHAT IS A CIVILISATION?
• Social hierarchy
• Division of labour
• Form of human culture (where many people live in urban centres)
• The first civilisations began in cities
• Civilisation is a normative or judgemental word’’
WHY DO CIVILISATIONS COLLAPSE?
• Patterns of growth and decline
• Decline can be either gradual or rapid
• War, drought, natural disasters and overpopulation
• Economic disruption
• Combination of external and internal causes
Know the technical aspects and be able to give examples.
ENVIRONMENTAL THEORIES
The depletion of a vital resource or resources which then leads to instability.
NATURAL CATASTROPHE
Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, disease, epidemics.
Also ideas like Mythical Atlantis and the Biblical flood.
OTHER COMPLEX SOCIETIES
Competition with other complex societies.
SOCIAL DYSFUNCTION OR MYSTICAL REASONS
Mysteries and internal processes.
ELITE MISMANAGEMENT
Increasing state authoritarianism.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Increase in costliness.
CHANCE CONCATENATION OF EVENTS
No single explanation. There are several factors, both internal and external, which worked together.
