`Author:` Luke Kemp `Availability:` Of course. Here is an obsidian-style note on Luke Kemp's "Goliath’s Curse," including connections to the work of [[James C. Scott]]. --- Title: Goliath’s Curse - Luke Kemp Author: Luke Kemp Source: Essay/Article Tags: #civilization #collapse #state-formation #agriculture #inequality #scott-kemp Related: [[The Art of Not Being Governed]] [[Against the Grain]] [[James C Scott]] [[Collapse Studies]] Summary Luke Kemp's "Goliath’s Curse" argues that the very structure of early states—what we traditionally call "civilization"—contained an inherent and recurring flaw: a tendency toward systemic collapse. This was not due to external shocks alone, but to a built-in "curse" of unsustainable resource extraction, social inequality, and ecological degradation. The first states were not glorious dawns but fragile, coercive experiments that frequently failed. Kemp reframes collapse not as a catastrophe, but as a recurring and often necessary dissolution of oppressive systems, creating openings for renewal and different social forms. Key Themes & Arguments · The Inevitability of Early Collapse: The first 3,000 years of statehood (c. 3000-1000 BCE) were characterized by frequent, widespread collapse. States were the exception, not the norm. · The "Goliath" as a Fragile Entity: The state (Goliath) is not a stable, monolithic entity but a top-heavy, resource-hungry, and brittle one. Its size and complexity make it vulnerable. · Internal Drivers of Collapse: The primary drivers are internal: · Class Conflict & Inequality: The extraction of surplus from a large peasantry to support a small elite creates inherent social strain. · Ecological Exhaustion: Intensive agriculture to feed cities and elites degrades the land base (e.g., salinization in Mesopotamia). · Administrative Overload: The cost of maintaining bureaucracy, military, and monumentalism becomes unsustainable. · Collapse as an Opportunity: Kemp challenges the "catastrophe" narrative. For the majority (the subjugated populace), collapse could mean an end to taxation, conscription, and slavery—a "release from the drudgery of civilisation." It was a return to smaller-scale, more resilient social organizations. --- Connections to James C. Scott The arguments in "Goliath's Curse" resonate profoundly with the work of political anthropologist James C. Scott, creating a powerful interdisciplinary lens for understanding early statehood. Goliath’s Curse (Kemp) James C. Scott’s Work Synthesized Concept The state is a fragile, coercive experiment. The early state was a "barbarian" entity, a "capture machine" built on grain and legible subjects. ([[Against the Grain]]) The state is not the pinnacle of human progress but a specific, violent, and unstable form of social organization. Collapse is a release from taxation, conscription, and elite control. "The art of not being governed" – the active choice of peoples to avoid state incorporation, seeing it as a form of slavery. ([[The Art of Not Being Governed]]) Collapse is an involuntary form of "state evasion." The dissolution of the state is, from a subaltern perspective, a liberation. Intensive grain agriculture is a key vulnerability. States were dependent on cereal grains (wheat, barley, rice) because they are taxable, measurable, and storable. They promoted this specific form of agriculture. ([[Against the Grain]]) The ecological base of the state is also its Achilles' heel. The state's chosen resource is what leads to its ecological exhaustion. The "Dark Ages" following collapse were periods of cultural and social innovation and decentralization. Zomia and other non-state spaces are not "primitive" but are societies that have chosen alternative, often more egalitarian, paths. Periods of "collapse" are better understood as periods of de-statism—a return to smaller-scale, politically flexible, and often freer social orders. ![[Goliath’s Curse (Kemp).jpg]] Direct Quotes for Zettelkasten · "Collapse is... a return to the normal human condition of lower complexity and greater equity." — Kemp · Note: This directly mirrors Scott's description of non-state societies in Zomia. The "normal" human condition is statelessness, not statehood. · "The first states were not glorious dawns, but bloody and fragile experiments." · Note: Echoes Scott's characterization of the earliest states in Mesopotamia as "late, fragile, and shallow" impositions on a landscape of diverse peoples. Questions & Further Lines of Inquiry · How does Kemp's focus on systemic collapse complement Scott's focus on individual and community resistance? · Can we apply the "Goliath's Curse" framework to modern states facing climate change and peak resource extraction? Are we seeing the same internal dynamics at a global scale? · Is the concept of "collapse as liberation" ethically applicable to modern contexts where state collapse leads to humanitarian crisis? Or is this only valid for pre-modern, extractive states? --- ## Summary ## Key Takeaways ## Quotes - ## Notes > [!info] > `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:` [[Books index]]