Environmental Determinism vs. Social Dynamics: Prehistorical and Historical Examples

G.-Fivos Sargentis, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Andreas Angelakis, John Christy and Anastasios A. Tsonis
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G.-Fivos Sargentis: Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Development, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Heroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Zographou, Greece
Demetris Koutsoyiannis: Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Development, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Heroon Polytechneiou 9, 15780 Zographou, Greece
Andreas Angelakis: HAO-Demeter, Agricultural Research Institution of Crete, 71300 Iraklion, Greece
John Christy: Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA
Anastasios A. Tsonis: Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA

World, 2022, vol. 3, issue 2, 1-32

Abstract: Environmental determinism is often used to explain past social collapses and to predict the future of modern human societies. We assess the availability of natural resources and the resulting carrying capacity (a basic concept of environmental determinism) through a toy model based on Hurst–Kolmogorov dynamics. We also highlight the role of social cohesion, and we evaluate it from an entropic viewpoint. Furthermore, we make the case that, when it comes to the demise of civilizations, while environmental influences may be in the mix, social dynamics is the main driver behind their decline and eventual collapse. We examine several prehistorical and historical cases of civilization collapse, the most characteristic being that of the Minoan civilization, whose disappearance c. 1100 BC has fostered several causative hypotheses. In general, we note that these hypotheses are based on catastrophic environmental causes, which nevertheless occurred a few hundred years before the collapse of Minoans. Specifically, around 1500 BC, Minoans managed to overpass many environmental adversities. As we have not found justified reasons based on the environmental determinism for when the collapse occurred (around 1100 BC), we hypothesize a possible transformation of the Minoans’ social structure as the cause of the collapse.

Keywords: water–energy–food nexus; Minoan civilization; sustainable development; social structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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