Anthropological Approach to Vulnerability and Major Hazards - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 263

7
Anthropological Approach
to Vulnerability and Major Hazards
7.1. General introduction
On an anthropological level, the notions of environment and
milieu, as well as those of risk and vulnerability, are understood in a
sense that sometimes differs widely from their ordinary usages and
their meanings in other disciplines. The reason for this divergence is
simple. The definitions of these terms used from an anthropological
perspective must be in a position to convey realities that sometimes
vary so much as to be asymmetrical. As we will see, what is perceived
as risk by some individuals can be considered a stroke of good luck by
others, and what is seen as a catastrophe by one community of people
can transpire to be a desired strategy for another group. In the first
instance (section 7.2), there will therefore be the question of defining
these terminologies. In the second instance, by means of two case
studies, we will study the cultural variation in perceptions of and
methods of handling major hazards.
The first case (section 7.3), which concerns one of the largest
volcanic eruptions of the 20th Century (at Ambrym in 1913), will
allow us to illustrate one of the linchpins for an anthropological
understanding of the relations between human societies and factors
that threaten their existences. There is no catastrophe, that is to say