Water Management Amongst the Ancient States of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Java, and Belize: A Study in Entanglement and Resiliency

Abstract

This thesis investigates the organization and development of water management systems in a sample of past tropical societies in Southeast Asia and Mesoamerica. A comparative approach is employed to show how water management affected the trajectories of the ancient states of Angkor, Cambodia, Bagan, Myanmar, Sukhothai, Thailand, Central and East Java, and Caracol, Belize. Differing types of water management is demonstrated through the use of the adaptive cycle, a conceptual framework through which a broad range of socio-ecological data can be examined in order to explore shifting levels of resilience over time. To understand why levels of resilience might change over time, entanglement theory, which looks at the relationships between humans and things, is utilized to determine how entangled these societies were with water management. Particular degrees of entanglement and shifting levels of resilience provide the analysis with the means to explore how water management changed over time as these societies rose, grew, and finally collapsed.

Author Keywords: Ancient Tropical Societies, Entanglement, Resilience, Socio-Ecological Dynamics, Southeast Asia, Water Management

    Item Description
    Type
    Contributors
    Creator (cre): Marajh, Leah-Marie
    Thesis advisor (ths): Iannone, Gyles
    Degree committee member (dgc): Haines, Helen R.
    Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University
    Date Issued
    2016
    Date (Unspecified)
    2016
    Place Published
    Peterborough, ON
    Language
    Extent
    212 pages
    Rights
    Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
    Local Identifier
    TC-OPET-10353
    Publisher
    Trent University
    Degree
    Master of Arts (M.A.): Anthropology