patras lecture – 22 march 2014 water management in the anthropocene peter a. wilderer munich,...

Patras lecture – 22 March 2014

Water Management in the

Anthropocene

Peter A. WildererMunich, Germany

TUM Institute for Advanced Study – EASA-IoS International Expert Group on Earth System Preservation

Karl August Wittfogel(1896 – 1988)

German – US American historian & sociologist based on Max Weber & Karl Marx

water management spured evolution of civilizations

causes and effects:

aridclimate

food & watersupply

large scalehydraulicstructures

watergovernance

urbanization

protectionagainst

flooding &drought

good water governance requires

- knowledge

- information

- management experiences

K. A. Wittfogel: Oriental Despotism

A comparative Study of total Power Yale University Press, 1957

https://archive.org/details/KarlAugustWittfogel-OrientalDespotism

controlled by

democraticsystem

despoticsystem

oriental despotism / hydraulic despotism

ruler

administration

subjects

primary goal

building huge hydraulic structures

to secure water supply & agricultural production

total knowledgetotal power

are concentrated in theadministration

feudal system

monarch

nobles

knights vassals

farmers merchants craftmen

pesants serfs

first installed in England after 1066 AD. by William the Conqueror

primary goal: fighting wars, expansion of wealth and power

power is owned by

nobility

misuse of power leads to collapse

Jared DiamondUS American scientists, 1937

Collapse: How societies choose to Fall or Succeed

„climate change in accord with misuse of power

determine

rise and fall of empires“

= bad water governance

rise & fall through climate change

natural impacts

before 2001

350

300

250

200

CO

2 ,

ppm

v warm

cold

GHG emissioncauses

anthropogenicglobal warming

what´s new: magnitude & accelleration

accellerationof anthropogenic changesof the Earth System

global accelerationsource: http://de.slideshare.net/owengaffney/great-acceleration

anthropocen: expression of the contemporary geological ara

Antonio Stoppani1824-1891

1873 anthropozoic era

Paul Crutzen (1933)1995 Nobel Prize Chemistry

2000 anthropocen:the era dominated by humankind

Eugene Stroemer1934-2012

1980 anthropocen:the current geolocial epoch

7 200 000 0002013 years later

causes of acceleration and effects

170 Mio2013 years ago

170 Mio2013 years ago

7,000,000,000 Mio2013 years later

advances in science & technology

population growth

innovative communication

consequences:

• we need too much• we consume too much• we pollute too much• we destroy too much

how to solve those tremendous problems

in virtually „no time“ ?

how to solve water & food deficiencies ?

how to handle droughts and flooding?

how can we prevent

collaps

of the human civilization

?

limits of grassrouts democracy

resistance against changes

collapse

the resilience theory suggestschanges yes, but not

- in my backyard

- on the expense of own interests

interests of

• individuals

• enterprises

• governments

is revival

of the

oriental / hydraulic despotism

the solution

?

Wittfogel considers

only those

earn the privilege of freedom

who are routed in the heritage of the past

being alert for the threats of a conflic-torn present

and boldly exhausting the possibilities of an open future

thank´s for listening

whether democracy or hydraulic despotism is chosen

all what counts is

good governance