Clive Ponting's 'A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations'

Résumé du document

"In state affairs, by foreseeing [problems] at a distance, which is only done by men of talents, the evils which might arise from them are soon cured ; but when, from want of foreseight, they are suffered to increase to such a height that they are perceptible to everyone, there is no longer any remedy." Machiavelli, The Prince.

Through this historical essay composed of seventeen chapters, Clive Ponting examines the emergence of civilization and its development from early hunters-gatherers communities to the globalized and interdependent network of exchanges and communications constitutive of mankind's contemporary political, economical and social organization. Focusing on how human beings were recurrently confronted to environmental pressure and on the way with which they shaped their environment to their advantage allows one to have a clearer insight of the several trends responsible for the prospective 'immense environmental problems' that they will have to face in the next decades.

Considering the wealth of the details and in order to adequately restore Ponting's words we will seek to bring out linearly the author's several theses and the main outlines of his argument through a few examples. Even though every chapter could be read separately, the overall coherence of the work can be summarized in an attempt to reveal "how overexpansion and the exhaustion of available natural ressources have played key roles in the collapse of all great cultures in human history".

Extraits

[...] In the newt two centuries 22 of the 23 native plants died In parallel with the expansion of settlements also spread pests and diseases through increased communication between all parts of the globe. The wildlife of the world was never the same again The general pattern has been that of a reduction in the variety of species around the world and an increasing homogenisation of ecosystems By extension the problematic of the commons is then introduced. As Ophuls showed because there was no ownership of any species and because the cost of exploitation was low rational individuals tended to maximise shortterm gains at the expense of longer-term considerations Taking examples from medieval Europe 6 through the twentyfirst century Ponting illustrates how the dominant pattern of over-fishing and collapse can be seen in major river and lake fisheries around the world Because of the small efficiency of quotas about half of the world's fish catch might come from farmed fish in the future. [...]

[...] Besides other daily activities this created a growing pressure on the environment of the island which lead to its collapse By 1600 the island was almost completely deforested and the islanders' beliefs' system was severly affected. People lived in caves and the conflicts over resources created a state of almost permanent warfare Slavery and cannibalism seem to have been the only responses that the islanders invented to face the challenge. The implementation of this example at a bigger scale is rather relevant. [...]

[...] Ponting's crucial question and problematic for our complex and technologically advanced societies is then set. Are they able of finding a way of life that does not fatally deplete the ressources that are available to them and irreversibly damage their life support system ? The second chapter of the book The Foundations of History particularly insists through the prism of a number of delicate balances and a whole series of complex processes on the strong interdependence between human societies and their environment. [...]

[...] Lastly Ponting in the shadow of the past confronts human behaviour and its influence on the environment and draws several outlines. Since early agriculture or even since nomadic lifestyles, human populations have always exercised a more or less powerful pressure on natural ecosystems. The globe's population rose exponentially during the last century and should keep rising to eight billion by 2028 If alternative methods of production and lifestyles could not be found human civilization is facing major problems to sustain its existence and conflicts over resources might enhance. [...]

[...] Until the nineteenth century theses societies were mostly agricultural and rather self-sufficient than willing to produce an economical surplus. The average living conditions could be terrible partly because of epidemics or reduced crops. When machines were first introduced in the economic chain whole segments of the population fell in poverty. The several waves of technological innovations from steam engineering and railway construction to electricity, chemical industries the rise of the individual vehicules and an improved productivity through fordist techniques in the twentieth century. [...]