Civilization
The word civilization relates to the Latin civis, meaning citizen. It describes a society made up of cities. This definition comes from the National Geographic Society. A complex society must have urbanization and social stratification. These traits distinguish it from tribal groups. The state concentrates power over nature and other people. Elaborate agriculture supports these dense settlements. Specialized labor allows some to build pyramids or write laws. Writing systems emerged alongside administrative bureaucracies in Sumer around 4000 BCE. Without writing, most civilizations could not track their trade or taxes. The Inca civilization functioned without written script using knotted strings called Quipus. Yet they maintained a complex state structure. Social classes divided rulers from commoners. Ruling elites controlled surplus food and land. This hierarchy created rigid divisions between urban and rural populations.
Neolithic villages transitioned into early civilizations through the planting of cereal crops. The Natufian culture in the Levantine corridor began this process around 11,000 BCE. Göbekli Tepe in Western Asia established neolithic technology by 9,130 BCE. Mesopotamia developed its first civilizations 7,400 years ago. The Uruk period saw trade connect Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Afghanistan. Climate shifts like the 8.2 Kiloyear Arid Event forced communities to abandon unwalled villages. Walled cities appeared as a response to endemic violence. The Caral-Supe civilization in Peru began urbanization about 3500 BCE. The Olmec civilization emerged in North America around 1200 BCE. Teotihuacan near modern Mexico City reached 125,000 people by 350 CE. Solnitsata in the Black Sea area served as Europe's oldest known town from 5500 to 4200 BCE. These developments marked the accumulation of transferable economic surpluses. State monopolies on violence accompanied these urban revolutions. Human sacrifice sometimes accompanied the rise of warrior classes.
Norbert Elias published The Civilizing Process in 1939 to trace social mores from medieval courtly society. Albert Schweitzer outlined two opinions in The Philosophy of Civilization (1923). He argued that humanity lost the ethical idea of progress. Jean-Jacques Rousseau opposed this view in his work Emile. He believed civilization was unnatural and led to vices like guile and hypocrisy. Johann Gottfried Herder developed a new approach in Germany. Philosophers like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche followed this line of thought. Leo Strauss argued in New York during World War II that this opinion fueled Nazism. Oswald Spengler used the German word Kultur for what many call a civilization. He stated that civilization is the beginning of decline. Arnold J. Toynbee explored processes in A Study of History. He traced the rise and fall of 21 civilizations. Samuel P. Huntington defined civilization as the highest cultural grouping of people. These thinkers debated whether civilization represented improvement or decay.
Civilizations relied on agriculture for subsistence. Most depended on cereal farming rather than horticultural gardening. Grain surpluses could be stored for long periods. This allowed some people to become soldiers, artisans, or priests. Research from the Journal of Political Economy contradicts the surplus model. It postulates that horticultural gardening was more productive than cereal farming. However, only cereal farming produced civilization due to harvest appropriability. Rural populations growing cereals could be taxed by an elite. Farming efficiency created food surplus and sustained it through decreasing rural population growth. Early human cultures functioned through gift economies supplemented by barter systems. By the early Iron Age, civilizations developed money as a medium of exchange. Monopolistic controls of monetary systems benefited social and political elites. Living in one place allowed people to accumulate personal possessions. Some acquired landed property or private ownership of land. Traders needed to trade goods and services for food in market systems. The potter might need shoes while the cobbler needed horseshoes. A monetary system organized these obligations to ensure fulfillment.
Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah influenced theories of Islamic civilization decline. He suggested repeated invasions limited development and led to collapse. Edward Gibbon wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He claimed the final act was the fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE. Theodor Mommsen suggested Rome collapsed with the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. Jared Diamond listed five major reasons for collapse in his 2005 book Collapse. These included environmental damage, climate change, and dependence on long-distance trade. Peter Turchin described fiscal-demographic models where state revenues shrink over time. Overpopulation leads to famines, epidemics, and demographic collapse. Bryan Ward-Perkins argued that Roman collapse had deleterious impacts on living standards. Basic plumbing disappeared from western Europe for 1,000 years. Arthur Demarest used holistic perspectives to explain Mayan kingdom disintegration. Loss of soil fertility and drought contributed to the spiral of decline. Thomas Homer-Dixon considers energy return on investments central to survival. When this amount decreases, civilizations either access new sources or collapse.
Samuel P. Huntington predicted a clash of civilizations in the 21st century. This viewpoint has been challenged by Edward Said and Amartya Sen. Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris argue the true clash involves Muslim rejection of liberal sexual values. Morris Berman argues extreme individualism pushed the United States across a critical threshold. He concludes continuation is physically impossible due to environmental exhaustion. Derrick Jensen defines civilization as a culture leading to domination of environment and humanity. Modern civilization adopts imperialist policies to maintain resource imports. The Kardashev scale classifies civilizations based on technological advancement and energy harnessing. An alternative view suggests future civilization will feature technological minimalism. Highly advanced societies might maximize effectiveness while minimizing energy use. Quantum-scale engineering could allow complex functions using negligible amounts of energy. Such a world could appear pristine from interstellar distances. Astronomers search for technosignatures within the Milky Way galaxy. The proposed field xenoarchaeology studies artifact remains of non-human civilizations. Current scientific consensus holds humans are the only species creating civilizations on Earth.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
What is the definition of civilization according to National Geographic Society?
The word civilization relates to the Latin civis meaning citizen and describes a society made up of cities. This definition comes from the National Geographic Society.
When did writing systems emerge in Sumer around 4000 BCE?
Writing systems emerged alongside administrative bureaucracies in Sumer around 4000 BCE. Without writing most civilizations could not track their trade or taxes.
Who published The Civilizing Process in 1939 to trace social mores?
Norbert Elias published The Civilizing Process in 1939 to trace social mores from medieval courtly society. Albert Schweitzer outlined two opinions in The Philosophy of Civilization in 1923.
Why did Roman collapse have deleterious impacts on living standards?
Bryan Ward-Perkins argued that Roman collapse had deleterious impacts on living standards because basic plumbing disappeared from western Europe for 1,000 years. The final act was the fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE.
How does the Kardashev scale classify civilizations based on technological advancement?
The Kardashev scale classifies civilizations based on technological advancement and energy harnessing. Current scientific consensus holds humans are the only species creating civilizations on Earth.