rise and fall of civilisations

8/11/2019 Rise and Fall of Civilisations

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. Rise and fall of Civilisations

The subject-matter of Toynbee’s study is civilization. He rejects the study of history interms of nation-states, which according to him are only fragments of something large, i.e.

civilization. He says, !very civilization is carried on within the networ" of a society and it

is im#ossible to study a civilization or its society a#art from each other$. %hat is it that brings civilization to birth& 'ccording to Toynbee, only a strong stimulus. This stimulus is

#rovided by a challenge. The challenge may be #osed by climate, aggression, militarism,

ruthless e(#loitation or any other factor. The challenge must not be overwhelming. )t mustnot be so e(cessively strong as to stifle creativity. To this challenge there must be

a##ro#riate res#onse. The continuous inter#lay of challenge and res#onse gives birth to a

civilization* and, at the same time sustains its e(istence. )t must be a continuous,

uninterru#ted #rocess* otherwise civilization would be aborted or arrested.'ccording to Toynbee, civilization grows through an +lan which carries it from challenge

through res#onse to further challenge. This growth has both outward and inward as#ects. 't

the core of the challenge and res#onse is the creative minority. )nevitably, the creative

minority is infected with the s#irit of nemesis imitation, which results in the loss of self-determination. The leaders, having lost the s#ar" of creativity, lose +lan and charisma which

em#ower them to lead the majority. This is what has ha##ened in the //R. 0uring theseventies, the leadershi# of C1/ Communist 1arty of /oviet nion was confronted with

the challenge of the over-centralization of a huge economy and #olitical #ower. They did not

meet this challenge by an a##ro#riate res#onse of decentralization of economy anddevolution of #ower. They lost +lan. Corru#tion eroded their legitimacy. They lost self-

determination. )n such a situation the creative minority is left with no o#tion e(ce#t recourse

to coercion to retain their leadershi#. The creative minority degenerates into domineering

minority.The loss of harmony between the leaders and followers leads to social dise2uilibrium which

is enhanced by the introduction of new dynamic forces into the e(isting set of ossifiedinstitutions. The social disharmony is accentuated by the com#lacency and #assivity of thecreative minority, which rests on their laurels, idolizing the #ast and adhering to the

outdating values and institutions. This accelerating social anarchy leads to the brea"down of

the civilization, which is followed by disintegration, bringing about a schism in the bodysocial into three warring factions3 dominant, tyrannical minority* internal su##ressed

minority and an e(ternal enemy.

'ccording to Toynbee, when a civilized society finds itself threatened by another

civilization, there are two alternatives o#en to it3 zealotism fundamentalism orherodianism. 4ealotism loo"s bac" to the #ast and ta"es cover in it. Herodianism faces the

#resent, learns the techni2ue of the living civilization. %hile the zealot faces the enemy with

old traditional methods, the herodian learns to fight the enemy with his enemy’s ideas,tactics and techni2ues. The zealot is the fossil of a disintegrating civilization and the

herodian is the mimetic of a living civilization, and is finally absorbed by it.

Toynbee has been criticized for having im#osed a grand order on the world-history in termsof civilizations. He has been accused of dabbling in mythology at the e(#ense of facts to

bolster u# false theories. His general message is determinist. 5ore, it is obscurantist. To

him, decay is lin"ed with liberalism and nationalism. 'ccording to him, the !uro#ean fall

begins with Renaissance. !uro#e’s great centuries of Reformation and Renaissance are to



Toynbee the dar" ages. The age of 6ach, 5ozart, 6eethoven and 7oltaire is a s#ell of low

ideological tem#erature.’’

Can !uro#e chec" its decline& 8es, by going bac" to the #aradise of medievalinnocence, according to Toynbee.

Toynbee has #ut all civilizations in a strait-jac"et. 'll civilizations #ass through similar

stages, all flourish and decay, according to the same general rule. 'll ultimately die. /omedie suddenly, others linger on. He has almost drawn the horosco#e of !uro#ean civilization3

the colla#se of the west is inevitable, to be followed by the universal state and universal

religion. Toynbee forgets that nothing in history is inevitable. 9othing is irresistible. Theirresistible is very often which has not been resisted.

)t is after the %%: that Toynbee #ro#ounded his cyclic theory of history; the characteristic

ideology of a society in decline. Toynbee witnessed the 0iamond <ubilee of =ueen 7ictoria,

when the 6ritish !m#ire was at its zenith. He witnessed its decline and even its li2uidation.This awesome s#ectacle filled him with chilling forebodings* as 5arcus 'urelius, in the

twilight of the Roman !m#ire, consoled himself by reflecting how all things that are now

ha##ening, have ha##ened in the #ast, and will ha##en in the future.$ Toynbee’s #enchant

for creative minority is nothing but a veiled a##eal for elitism inan age when the masses are swee#ing every thing before them. The resurgent masses of the

Third %orld have dismantled all em#ires in less than a 2uarter of a century. They are out to bury the theory of creative minority. )t is not civilization that has been or is disintegrating. )t

is the bourgeois weltanschauung world-view which is in disarray. %ith the end of the cold

war which has obfuscated reality, the %est will now have to confront the star" issue of theThird %orld; the unbridgeable chasm between the haves and the have-nots. 1eo#le are on

the march in serried ran"s all over the Third %orld, fighting for social emanci#ation, #eace

and #rogress. They loo" forward to the future of humanity with #romethean zeal and

o#timism. History is not linear. )t is not cyclic. )t moves along a s#iral ; two ste#s forward,one bac"ward* ultimately to emerge on a higher #lane. Civilization is not doomed.

>zymandiases are certainly doomed. !(#loitation of man is doomed. 0es#ite ?rancis

?u"uyama’s !nd of History, many a glorious cha#ter of history remains to be written. 's)2bal #uts it3

0on’t be misled that the tas" of the tavern-"ee#er is over,

There is many a wine un-tasted in the veins of the vine.)n the ma"ing of history two factors come into #lay3 the objective factor and the subjective

factor. The objective factor consists of the conditions and circumstances, the economic,

#olitical and cultural environment in which individuals find them-selves at a #articular

moment in the history.The subjective factor consists of human thin"ing, human organization and action. The

objective and subjective factors are dialectically lin"ed* i.e. mutual interaction, the two

factors act and react. ?or an historic event both factors are e2ually im#ortant. The conditionsmust be mature for the event to come to #ass. 6ut it will not ha##en by itself. Herein comes

the role of creative minority along with great men and women. They are not begetters but

only the midwives of history. %hat the great leaders bring forth is mothered by what Hegelcalls zeitgeist.

'ccording to Toynbee,

)n order to save man"ind we have to learn to live together in concord in s#ite of traditional

differences of religion, class, race and civilization. %e must learn to recognize and



understand the different cultural configurations in which our common human nature has

e(#ressed itself.$

Toynbee once remar"ed that the entire #rocess of human history could be summed u# in twowords, namely, challenge and res#onse. Through man’s long journey from the dar" ages to

modern times, the res#ective environments in different countries at different #eriods of time

created a number of challenges for man undergoing a #rocess of evolution. !very time, inevery country and in every age, either a great individual or the institutional set-u# of the

state or society as a whole comes u# with a res#onse to the given challenge. Those who

res#ond to the challenges of their environment effectively, ma"e history. Those who do notrise to such challenges successfully, become history. Toynbee says, 0iscord is inveterate in

human life because man is most aw"ward thing in the world. There will be #er#etual

conflicts of wills and the conflicts will be carried to suicidal e(tremity, unless man achieved

only as an incidental result of acting on a belief in the nity of @od and by seeing thisnitary Terrestrial society as a #rovince of @od’s Common %ealth$.

rise and fall of civilisations

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