Complex Traditions: Intersecting Theoretical Frameworks in Agroecological Research

Abstract The knowledge of traditional farmers is encyclopedic and ever changing as they continue learning from experiments and mutual interchange in the actualization of agroecology. The modern science of ecology is (or should be) the scientific basis of agroecology and should synergistically inform the ongoing accumulation of knowledge inherent in the practice of small-scale farmers. Traditional agricultural knowledge is deep but narrow, while modern ecological knowledge is broad but shallow. The intersection of traditional knowledge with modern ecology could result in the generation of knowledge that is simultaneously deep and broad. Keywords: TEKtraditional knowledgeecological complexityindigenous knowledgescientific knowledge This article is part of the following collections: Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems: 10th Anniversary Collection Acknowledgments This article is an abridged version of a larger essay that can be viewed at http: //www. sitemaker. umich. edu/jvander/publicationsfromₘexicocoffeeₚroject Notes 1. "Trade" here refers to a skill or craft. Robert Boyle, seventeenth-century philosopher, chemist, and physicist, and namesake of Boyle's law of gases, was keen on understanding the way in which common tradesmen and women accumulated knowledge that was systematic, organized, and insightful, much as the modern scientific method. This point is discussed in detail by CitationConner (2005).