Re: Collapse of systems

Aiviet Nguyen wrote:

>     I am interested in writing an essay on the collapse phenomena of
> social systems ( world systems or political systems). Can somebody give me
> some hints, brief review or books on the topics?

Just for starters:

Joseph Tainter, THE COLLAPSE OF COMPLEX SOCIETIES, Cambridge U. Press, 
1988

Norman Yoffee and George Cowgill (eds), THE COLLAPSE OF ANCIENT STATES
AND
CILVILZATIONS, U Arizona Press, 1988

John Morris, THE AGE OF ARTHUR, Charles Scribners, 1973

There's a great literature dealing with specific collapses and failures
(the Maya, 
the Olmecs, the Zapotecs, Teotiahuacan, Chaco Canyon, etc.) from an
archaeological 
perspective, and an even greater volume of historical material dealing
with Rome 
and China.  From a broad perspective, most societies have collapsed over
time, so 
perhaps you could be more specific about what interests you-- economic
stagnation 
after 200 AD in the Roman Empire, say, or the military collapse of the
Aztecs, or
the slow stagnation of the Zapotecs, or the fall of the USSR.



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Mike Shupp
Graduate Student, Dept of Anthropology
California State University, Northridge
ms44278@csun1.csun.edu
http://www.csun.edu/~ms44278/index.htm