Comparative Approaches to Complexity in the Tropics

Tropical environments around the world have been the foundation upon which many complex societies have risen, peaked, and ultimately collapsed. Exploring the complexities found within the environment, agricultural strategies, water management practices, urbanism, as well as social and political organizations, provide avenues to understanding why these classical state societies followed similar or divergent trajectories. Over years of discourse, a wealth of information has accumulated on these tropical societies, but only occasionally, have scholars collectively assessed and compared their research questions, methods, and results. This symposium provides an arena to discuss the importance of comparative approaches to understanding the complexities exhibited by tropical societies.