Comments on: Collapse: How Authors Choose to Fail or Suceed http://savageminds.org/2009/01/06/collapse-how-authors-choose-to-fail-or-suceed/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Sat, 26 May 2012 01:35:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Michael E. Smith http://savageminds.org/2009/01/06/collapse-how-authors-choose-to-fail-or-suceed/comment-page-1/#comment-556500 Michael E. Smith Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:02:18 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=1460#comment-556500 Yes, Tainter's paper is a very nice essay and does a good job on Diamond and other recent books about collapse. But one of the more interesting aspects of his paper is pointing out that even when archaeologists write for each other, in the academic literature, their works may be used (and mis-used) by popular writers to score points in contemporary political debates. This may be nothing new to cultural anthropologists, but we archaeologists are not used to this kind of thing. It makes one think about issues of phrasing and framing, even in technical scholarly works. BTW, if someone wants more information on just what Tainter thinks about ancient collapses (he keeps his own opinions to a minimum in the ARA paper), see: Tainter, Joseph A. 2006 Archaeology of Overshoot and Collapse. Annual Review of Anthropology 35:59-74. Yes, Tainter’s paper is a very nice essay and does a good job on Diamond and other recent books about collapse. But one of the more interesting aspects of his paper is pointing out that even when archaeologists write for each other, in the academic literature, their works may be used (and mis-used) by popular writers to score points in contemporary political debates. This may be nothing new to cultural anthropologists, but we archaeologists are not used to this kind of thing. It makes one think about issues of phrasing and framing, even in technical scholarly works.

BTW, if someone wants more information on just what Tainter thinks about ancient collapses (he keeps his own opinions to a minimum in the ARA paper), see:

Tainter, Joseph A.
2006 Archaeology of Overshoot and Collapse. Annual Review of Anthropology 35:59-74.

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