ABSTRACT
In 1999, Routledge released the co-edited volume titled The Angry Earth: The Anthropology of Disasters, the first collection of anthropological research on disasters. In a set of contributed chapters, the book explored the phenomena of disasters from their contested definitions to their construction, unfolding, responses, recovery, and effects on communities, all through the theoretical base and substantive knowledge of anthropology. Over the passage of time, any number of people have queried the authors as to why they used the term “angry” to describe the earth in our book title. The change in slant from event to vulnerability prompted attention and research to turn to the roles of the state and the international system in disaster causation fallout and management. That, in turn, led to a pointed inquiry into existence and evolution of the state, particularly as regards the social contract between the state and its citizenry. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
