Collective Action and Adaptive Socioecological Cycles in Premodern States

Resiliency theorists propose that ecological transformations result when ecosystems collapse and then are reorganized through a process they call adaptive cycles. This article investigates the degree to which the dynamic properties of adaptive cycles reflect, in part, the influence of political factors associated with collective action in state formation. The author evaluates this possibility using historical and archaeological data coded as part of a comparative study of 30 premodern states. From these data, the author investigates the socionatural consequences of various regime-building strategies, and the author concludes that collective action political process will be an important factor to consider in future studies of socioecological resilience and transformation.