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The Evolution of Fragility: Setting the Terms


Type

Book

Change log

Authors

Yoffee, Norman 

Description

Explanations for the collapse of early states (and complex societies) often assume that they were integrated and stable until something bad happened, usually environmental change or because enemies overwhelmed them. In fact, many of these early states lasted a relatively short time, at least in archaeological reckoning. Others were longer-lived, but struggled to overcome structural weaknesses that eventually resulted in the fragmentation or a large-scale undoing of political orders. Rulers who attempted to institute mechanisms of control often laid the conditions for resistance and the disintegration of their regimes. The central theme of this volume is to undermine some traditional themes that naturalize the state and legitimize its historical claims to permanence.

Title

The Evolution of Fragility: Setting the Terms

Keywords

Is Part Of

Book type

Publisher

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

ISBN

978-1-902937-88-5