Battle of the theories

So we've had a look at the forcing factors behind the collapse of the Akkadian Empire which occurred roughly 4,200 years ago. The most likely cause seems to be a combination of a drying climate  (Kerr,1998; more recently developed by Cullen et al., 2000) and socio-political instability with unsuitable societal response (Frahm and Feinberg, 2013).

Briefly, here are the 2 main arguments on the role of climate in societal collapse.

Environmental determinism, which is defined in the Dictionary of Human Geography, states that the environment sets limits on human society, argues that environmental conditions are the sole causational factor behind societal change allowing no place for any factors other than environmental changes. I think from what we've seen already, it’s fairly safe to say that environmental determinism overlooks other important factors and so doesn't provide a good explanation of what happened to the Akkadians (or for many other civilization collapses).

Is the success/failure of societies determined by the environment? No, but influenced by it. Source: Patrick Hardin on Cartoon stock

We can see that environmental change was not the only reason behind the collapse, even though it seems very likely to have been an influential factor.

Possibilism on the other hand may provide a more useful mind-set. Coined by Lucein Febvre in 1922, it acknowledges that the environment imposes limits on human societies and may influence the shape of cultures to a minor degree (species of grain that can be grown, native livestock, building material available), but ultimately the culture and success or failure of a society depends on its structure and response to changes.

Possibilism understands the complex nature of environment-society interactions. It is important to remember that although climate changes can cause unfavourable conditions, humans have always lived in extreme climates and continue to do so today. Therefore to say environmental change was the only factor behind collapse is an incomplete explanation.