Abstract

For a long time, anthropologists have been aware of the need to handle questions of change and history in their ethnographic studies and theoretical explorations. The increasing volatility and pace of change, often associated with migration and phenomena loosely labeled as globalization, coupled with the rise of international NGOs and the employment of anthropologists as consultants, has accelerated the urgency of dealing with types of complex and disordered change in society. Studies of areas affected by large-scale or pervasive disasters present key challenges in this context. Further, concern with global climatic change has highlighted the relevance of such studies. It is in the light of these challenges, and the growing number of empirical studies in this area, that we have found it important to define the sub-discipline of what we are calling Disaster Anthropology.