Global History - Essay Example

Global History Human civilization, in all of its complexity, is an incredibly difficult to analyze. Few scholars have attempted to provide an overview of the development of human settlement due to the vastness of the topic and the uncertainties associated with such a daunting task. Some scholars, however, revel at the chance to undertake a thorough analysis of something as broad as human – or Western – civilization, but these scholars in fact are few and far between. William H. McNeill, Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond and Colin McEvedy are a just a few of a handful of authors who have chosen to tackle such subject matter. In fact, they probably revel in the fact that there are among the elite few who, globally, dare to venture into the unknown and attempt to explain the emergence of settlement and human civilization. While some, like Jared Diamond, receive international praise and well-endowed accolades, others simply toil in the dark research libraries of their respective universities and seek not praise nor fame or monetary recognition but pursue their research with one noble desire: to explain the origins of humanity. Seeking to understand rise of human civilization, this essay will borrow from the work of three eminent scholars, Jared Diamond, Colin McEvedy and William H. McNeill. In attempting to account for the emergence of human civilization, we will discuss where it emerged and why, the establishment of free farming communities and pastoralist nomadism and will explore the development of coercive-agrarian civilizations. We will then define the term tributary agrarian empire and discuss important inventions and the organization structure of this type social organization. The Malthusian population-ecological cycle will be explained and discussed with reference to the varieties of ancient civilizations including temple communities, conquest empires, trading entrepots. What factors account for the emergence of human civilization? In a groundbreaking work entitled, The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community by William H. McNeill and in an impressive tome, Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond, both authors address this important and perplexing question. In his comprehensive analysis, Jared Diamond found that human civilization emerged as a result of a series of interconnected developments which fostered human growth. These included the domestication of crops and animals, human settlement and eventual labour specialization. Mann describes a “caging effect” which accounts for the rise of human settlement among the first civilizations in river valleys. This unique phenomenon and settlement pattern is described with reference to the why settlements developed where they did. River valleys are generally difficult terrain to navigate and in addition to providing a semblance of security, the settlement proved to be permanent due to the investment it took to establish one’s self there in the first place. The explanation put forth by Mann also relates to Diamond’s argument for labour specialization. The “caging effect” then, relates to a “trapped” condition in which a community’s labour investment is so vast that it “traps” the group into a sort of permanent occupation of a particular territory. This permanent occupation, the thesis argues, leads to the eventual development of civilization (Diamond 175; McNeil 111). What factors account for the growth of nomadism and other forms of human organization? Free framing communities and pastoral nomadic communities evolved as a result of a variety of factors. Hunter-gatherers ere the earliest form of human society and in many places around the world, nomadic communities choose not to settle and remained forever free-farming communities. So called “barbarism” or unsettled human society, was practiced by pastoral nomads who moved between pastures. Poor crop yield or suitable soil would be an environmental factor explaining the growth of this type of community. Hunter-gatherers in contrast, were motivated by a lack of hunting grounds or a lack in the availability of animals to hunt, thus another environmental cause for this type of human society. This type of human organization was common in Asia, Africa, the Americans and Australasia (modern New Guinea is a frequently cited example) (Diamond 93). Coercive-agrarian civilizations existed in the agrarian state, the most prominent form of social organization in human history. These societies were based upon a labor system with established norms, rules and a clear hierarchy. A coercive-agrarian civilization settled and was established to promote the cultivation of crops and the enforcement of this cultivation through elites. Elites created tribute-taking societies and were based upon a strict hierarchy which allowed the elite to extract surplus value from the labor of the greater society. This is the siphon effect and crops were a staple which represented finance for the community. Surplus value was redistributed and the system was based upon a cycle of redistribution which benefited the elite at the top of the social hierarchy. This could be aptly described as the “metabolism” of the coercive-agrarian civilization (Diamond 170; McNeil 563). A tributary agrarian empire was one in which a smaller or less powerful state provided tribute to a more powerful power. This was often a token of submission and was facilitated by the domestication of crops and animals, labour specialization and bureaucratization. The invention of writing allowed tribute to be recorded, tracked and systematized. Grand scale monuments like the pyramids were built to demonstrate the omnipotence of the powerful leader and were financed through tribute. People submitted to building the pyramids due to the inherently egalitarian tributary relationship between Pharaoh and subject. The Great Wall of China served the dual purpose of providing fortification and testifying to the power of the Emperor. This type of social system inevitably bred discontent as settlement led to population growth and population pressures bred checks on the social system. Peasant rebellions, nomadic invasions and Malthusian population pressures thus contributed to the decline of the tributary agrarian society (McEvedy 227; McNeil 584) From nomadic to agrarian and beyond, other varieties of ancient civilization developed, including temple communities, conquest empires and trading entrepots. Temple communities were based upon allegiance to a common deity or deities and social structure and rank were derived from access to the temple. Conquest empires included the Aztecs and the Scythians and were based upon the physical pursuit of other societies and the conquest of these contending communities. Trade civilizations were prominent in the Indus valley and on the island of Crete and existed primarily to trade and barter goods. These societies were often strategically geographically situated between different societies. looking at the development of human civilization from its inception as hunter-gatherer, this brief essay has charted human social growth. Borrowing from the work of Jared Diamond, Colin McEvedy and William H. McNeill, this essay has accounted for the emergence of human civilization and the subsequent growth of organizational patterns and settlement activity over a large span of time. References Diamond, J. (1999). Guns, germs, and steel: The fates of human societies. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. McEvedy, C. (2003). The New Penguin atlas of ancient history: Revised edition (2nd ed.). New York: Penguin. McNeill, W. H. (1963). The rise of the West: A history of the human community. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read More