underkruto.blogg.se

The Age of Affluence: all appears to be well, but the seeds of destruction are being sown.

The Age of Commerce: wealth is created through trade and innovation.The Age of Conquests: more expansion, not always peaceably.The Age of Pioneers: expansion of territory.Glubb examined the life cycles of eight empires since 859 B.C., and concluded that each empire (Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Arab, Marmeluke, Ottoman, Spain, Romanov Russia, and Britain) spanned around 250 years, or 10 generations, and passed through the following phases: There are various analyses of the rise and fall of empires, but here I will focus on the 1976 essay, The Fate of Empires, by General Sir John Glubb. Liminal spaces are never comfortable, but sometimes they are necessary. Having pondered liminality from the perspective of the individual, I’m moving on to think about entire societies entering a liminal, or transformational, phase – sort of in the hope that the world is entering one right now. Continuing my sharing of musings on liminality (aka the “threshold” places and times) from my doctorate.