The Rise and Decline of Nations: Social Cohesion and the Development of Civilizations — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
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A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Thomas Carr
Katherin Hilson
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Sarah Terrill

The Rise and Decline of Nations: Social Cohesion and the Development of Civilizations

Name: Iftou Yoya
Major: History
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Faculty Sponsor: Eric Pullin
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project

Abstract

Ibn Khaldun was an historian who developed the theory of ‘asabiyyah and the concept of ‘Al-Umran to explain the rise and decline of nations and empires. Khaldun believed that the theory of ‘asabiyyah played an enormous role in the development of human civilization. The theory of ‘asabiyyah is a representation of social cohesion among members of a group. According to Ibn Khaldun, the theory of ‘asabiyyah mobilizes new groups to seize power in a society and thus promotes the cyclical nature of history. Ibn Khaldun interpreted history in terms of group changes. In this interpretation, ‘asabiyyah becomes vital to the concept of ‘Al-Umran, the development of a society beginning from a nomadic state to an organized state of sedentary nations. Khaldun espouses that as the theory of ‘asabiyyah weakens within a society, the sedentary nation becomes prone to conquest by another nation possessing a stronger sense of ‘asabiyyah. Ibn Khaldun utilizes the occurrences of past social structures and social patterns in an effort to explain how and why nations and empires come into power only to collapse into a state of nonexistence.

Poster file