Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores anthropological production in the study of risk and disasters are quite relevant and have been instrumental in discussions and progress made in Disaster Risk Reduction. It offers a general panorama on the evolution of anthropology in the country or the region, as well as the emergence and evolution of what could be called in generic terms anthropological studies on risks and disasters, each presenting the current state on the Anthropology of Disasters. The book highlights the importance of doing situated ethnography, of using traditional anthropological techniques as participant observation and intensive fieldwork in the studied area. It describes the concept of uncertainty is important, referring to an imprecision when looking after the frontier between knowledge and certainty. The book provides considerable diversity of approaches and concepts, which reflects a similar variety in the ways of understanding societies and their processes.