ABSTRACT
Joseph Tainter begins with a wide-ranging literature review of collapse scholarship. Noting that scholars have been interested in identifying causes of collapse for over 3,000 years, Tainter identifies some key themes and patterns from this extensive literature, and names ten categories into which all explanations of collapse can be divided. He observes how a contemporary lens can impact research of the past, and argues that scholars of collapse are often “influenced by, and sometimes attempt to influence, contemporary social issues,” and that explanations thus “wax and wane in popularity according to the issues of the day.” In his classification of collapse theories, Tainter finds that a plurality of the explanations offered by historians elides human agency, encompassing causes that he variously refers to as “deus ex machina,” “bolt from the blue,” or “just bad luck.” Cautioning against such biases and fatalistic explanations, Tainter galvanizes scholars to uncover each civilization’s role in its collapse by seeking more nuanced and systemic casualties, writing “surely we can do better.”
