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"Charting the Map"
Presented by Jean-Christophe Victor
Will civilizations change or disappear?
Have you ever heard of the term 'ecocide'?
Before giving a definition, I would like you to think about this.
Why does a civilization develop, reach an apex decline, and sometimes completely disappear?
I've chosen three historic examples.
The Mayan civilization in pre-Columbian America.
The Khmer civilization in Southeast Asia.
And the European civilization which concerns us now.
First, let's start with the Mayan civilization.
The Mayan people came to be after migrating to the area.
They passed from Siberia to North America through the Bering Strait.
The Mayan empire grew in Mesoamerica.
Between modern-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Much of its development happened in the lower region of Peten.
Here, the forest is dense, there are few rivers, and the water table is deep.
The Mayan mastery of water allowed them to
develop a surplus food system.
On flatter land, the Mayans had
canoes, fertilized crop fields to retain humidity,
and increased crop output without depleting the soil.
The Mayans were also advanced in other areas.
They developed astronomy, they created a hieroglyphic writing structure,
and they had monumental architectural structures.
The Mayans are the ones who built Tikal and Palenque.
The Mayan Golden Age occurred between the 6th and 9th century A.D.
Suddenly, construction stopped completely around 850 A.D.
Cities become depopulated, and are eventually abandoned.
What happened?
Can we call this an 'ecocide' as biographer Jared Diamond notes?
Ecocide is when humans destroy the ecosystem.
But how could Mayans destroy their environment?
They used a lot of wood for fuel and for plaster for their monuments.
This resulted in massive deforestation.
Prolonged drought then sterilized the soil.
Pressure on the environment led to depopulation
and violence that was accentuated by rivalries between Mayan city-states.
Here is one factor that could explain the end of Mayan civilization.
One reason could be excessive use of available natural resources.
All of which happened before the arrival of the Spaniards.
We'll continue our brief look at the end of civilizations
by heading towards Asia and looking at the Khmers.
We know the Khmer from their temples, such as Angkor Wat.
How did this Angkor civilization come to be, develop, then decline?
Under the influence of India, the Khmers establish Chenla state,
which absorbs the Funan kingdom, becoming the Angkor kingdom in the 9th century.
The kingdom is located on the better part of the Indochina peninsula
and is known as the Khmer empire.
The Khmers take advantage of their geographical location.
They're located on the trade route that connects India and China.
They also have access to fishing and waterways.
Let's study the Angkor site itself in more detail.
During the monsoons, the Tonle Sap River floods,
which is at the same time a tributary and lake of the Mekong River,
allows the Khmer to develop 'bas-reliefs', large water reservoirs
and an elaborate irrigation system.
Again, water management is a key to prosperity.
Farmers are free from seasonal climate shifts.
They end up with rice surpluses, feeding non-farming populations.
All of which encourages diversification and the building of wealth.
Most temples are built between the 10th and 12th centuries.
Becoming a veritable water city and the world's most vast religious center.
To build the temples, the Angkor kings relied on the growing Khmer population.
Allowing them to take advantage of manpower used to build enormous temples.
The temples' facades include the face of Buddha.
And includes images of Apsara dancers, a celebrated part of Khmer culture and civilization.
The former Angkor city, now Siem Reap, was home to up to 1 million people at the time.
But expansion results in obstacles.
First is the problem of excessive exploitation of natural resources
and the enlargement of the irrigation management system.
Then came a new religious belief system, Theravada Buddhism.
The Khmer population became emancipated.
It also led to the decline of a society ruled by a
leadership created on the premise of the submission of the masses.
The empire is also exposed to attacks from its neighbors.
There are the Choms to the east, the Thais to the west,
along with the Mongol threat during the 13th century.
All these attacks lead to the downfall of Angkor in 1431.
The Khmer empire thus disappears.
But Khmer civilization manages to survive.
They symbolize the Angkor temples we see
today on Cambodia's national flag.
The Mayan and Khmer empires are examples of the dangers of
excessive exploitation of natural resources in the disappearance of civilizations.
Can we learn anything from these two examples?
I would like to end by taking a look at Europe.
The origins of European civilization arise from three different theories.
Athens, which encompasses the rise of democracy during Pericles' time.
Rome, as the father of personal rights.
Jerusalem as the origin of Christianity.
This map shows the reach of Christianity
which is still present in the 21st century,
which influences our culture and behaviors, whether or not we're adherents.
Europe is also known for its artistic Renaissance
and the burgeoning of intellectual thought.
During the exploratory ear in the 15th century,
initiated by the Portuguese and the Spaniards,
gave Europeans a way to leave the continent
by utilizing technology of the time and
and forcing Christianity on a worldwide scale.
It's probably during this time that Europeans
begin harboring a superiority complex.
The Portuguese and Spanish monarchies proceed to divvy up their conquered land
with the Treaty of Tordesillas signed in 1494.
The British, French, and Dutch soon follow.
Europe advanced during the Industrial Revolution, up until WWI.
It's a developing continent, but is also on the edge of collapse.
This occurs because of WWI, the establishment of totalitarian regimes,
and with WWII, it was difficult to not believe Europe was dying.
Post-WWII brings about development.
Six European countries create an economic community
in order to keep any possible collapse at bay.
This early economic community is now the 27 member European Union.
Europe rebuilds itself with the help of the United States.
It adopts the dominant economic model, the capitalist Euro-American model.
This model spreads everywhere.
Through the OCED, the WTO, the G8, and the G20.
The model then spreads to Russia, China, and emerging nations.
The enormous success of the Euro-American model
leads to two major global crises.
The global financial crisis which becomes a systemic crisis.
Thus, a capitalist crisis.
Along with an environmental crisis,
an example of our obsession to constantly pursue unlimited growth on a limited planet.
Let's take the emission of CO2 gases as an example
which come from fossil fuels and leading to climate change
of which the consequences are severe and apparent in the Arctic.
Look at this satellite image of Greenland.
The melting of the icecap and the ice field
are happening at a faster rate than GEIC experts estimated.
In comparison to the Mayans and Khmers who didn't have our technology or knowledge,
we do know what's going on.
And we have numerous studies at our disposal.
However, we're unable to reduce CO2 emissions
during international negotiations.
Or to even slowly stop using carbon energy.
So is the world currently committing ecocide?
After 50, 60 years, have we not used up our water, rivers,
minerals, seas, and even our air?
Is our globalized world heading towards ecocide?
And we know what's going on and we can learn from the Mayans, Khmers, and Easter Island.
We have economic and societal choices to make.
Continue this current economic and energy-driven climate we're familiar with.
Continuing with our lifestyle, or choose a new energy model.
Blindly choosing another path is not the problem,
Our problem is that we're resistant to change.
Bibliography
If you want to learn more, I suggest you read
Effondrement: Comment les societes decident de leur disparition ou de leur survie by American biographer Jared Diamond.
There's another book he recently wrote
called 'De l'Inegalite parmi les societes'.
There's a more simple book with maps included
called 'l'Atlas des civilisations'.
It's part of the 'Atlas, le monde, la vie' series.
You can find all these references in French and German on arte.tv.