The Cool Water Effect
Description
This open access book unravels the geo-climatic source of the West's emancipatory struggles and why the spirit of these struggles is about to spread around the world beyond its original geo-climatic root-which we describe as the Cool Water (CW-) Condition: that is, the combination of mostly cool seasons with steady rain in coastal proximity. What is so special about the CW-Condition? In a nutshell, the CW-Condition makes water and its derivative resources (i.e., land usable for hunting, fishery, forestry, crop cultivation and cattle herding) so diffuse that any emerging economy only functions with decentral management of water, land and labor. Decentral management infuses local autonomies into the social fabric, so much that evolving forms of social organization-be it family households, religious orders, business corporations or civic associations-mature under self-governance. Experience in self-governance equips social groups with two essential skills: resource mobilization and coalition building. In combination, these skills generate the power to organize grassroots resistance against top-down impositions, such as over-taxation and related forms of resource extraction. As a consequence, the state-building process begins slowly and proceeds as a conflictual affair between rulers' authority ambitions and bottom-up opposition. This conflict steers state formation towards contractual institutional arrangements in which elected assemblies check the executive power of central rulers. Under these checks, government action navigates towards an indiscriminate pursuit of the common good.
Reviews / Votes
"This monograph presents a social-scientific story of how contemporary societies have been shaped by having ubiquitous access to ' Cool Water '. The authors persuasively argue that initial differences in Cool Water access kick-started contemporary differences in emancipative values and associated democratic institutions. This is a masterful integration of a vast literature in social science, powerfully supported by empirical data, brilliantly analyzed; it is must-read scholarship." (Michael H. Bond, Management Science, Hong Kong Polytechnical University)
"This sweeping study posits that an individualistic-libertarian culture initially began to flourish in societies blessed by mostly cool seasons with ubiquitous water resources. The initial ' Cool Water Condition ' facilitated social dynamics that eventually gave rise to emancipative cultures and the institutions of representative democracy. This thought-provoking study draws upon evidence from a wide range of sources, raising critical questions in comparative cultural sociology, democratization, and historical processes of human development." (Pippa Norris, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
"This book provides convincing evidence that the success of human emancipation and democracy in any country depends on its culture, which in turn owes a lot to the geo-climatic habitat in which its population has lived for many centuries. Although bits of these ideas can be found in previous publications, this book is the first to fit them together in a compelling way, and point out the root cause of ' Western Exceptionalism ': the peculiar climate and geography of Northwest Europe and its settler colonies overseas." (Michael Minkov, Cross-Cultural Studies, Varna University)
"Why are people in some parts of the world free, rich and emancipated? Is this a matter of Western exceptionalism or are we mistaking might for right? It is one of the most daring questions to ask and this author team has the intellectual firepower to disentangle the roots of human empowerment in new and exciting ways. A must read." (Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, International Economics, University of South Carolina)
"The authors of this wide-ranging study apply a novel approach to societal development in human history. They argue that modern society originates in countries' geo-climatic endowments. Nations that started from "cool water" (i.e., the combination of mostly cool seasons with ubiquitous water resources) developed more "emancipatory" societies, visible in greater equality in terms of income, gender relations and political participation. These points are supported by a wealth of evidence over time and countries. An exceptional work." (Eric M. Uslaner, Political Science, University of Maryland)
More details
Persons
Christian Welzel is Chair in Political Culture Research at Leuphana University in Lueneburg, Germany, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, and Vice-President of the World Values Survey Association.
Stefan Kruse is International Development Consultant and former Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for the Study of Democracy at Leuphana University, Lueneburg, Germany.
Lennart Brunkert is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for the Study of Democracy, Leuphana University in Lueneburg, Germany.
Steven A. Brieger is Associate Professor in International Business at the University of Sussex Business School, University of Sussex, UK.
Content
Introduction.- Chapter 1 The Emancipatory Turn in Civilization 14.- Chapter 2 The CW-Condition Understood.- Chapter 3 The CW-Condition Measured.- Chapter 4 Development as Emancipation.- Chapter 5 The CW-Condition's Gestation.- Chapter 6 The CW-Condition's Egalitarianness.- Chapter 7 The CW-Condition and Colonialism.- Chapter 8 The CW-Condition in Perspective.- Chapter 9 The CW-Effect beyond Countries.- Chapter 10 The CW-Condition and Genes.- Chapter 11 The Recess of the CW-Condition's Grip.- Conclusion.