Weathering the World

Frida Hastrup is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Copenhagen, and has conducted long-term fieldwork in South India. Her current research addresses local responses to environmental changes in the Bay of Bengal area, with a specific focus on flooding, cyclones and coastal erosion.

“…there is much to recommend in this book, not least its subtlety and persuasiveness.”  ·  Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute“…the ethnographic case studies are truly fascinating and memorable. It offers fruitful ways to think about the experiential impacts of the 2004 tsunami in a wider Asian context, comparisons that should definitely be pursued on Indian Ocean shores both near and far.”  ·  Anthropos“…a well-written ethnography and a welcome contribution to a growing field of study.”  ·  Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale“Hastrup is a promising young anthropologist with a fresh and lively gaze, and this provocative volume augurs well for her future contribution to the field of environmental anthropology.”  ·  American Anthropologist“This book is a pleasure to read with its combination of intensive ethnography, its austere and almost minimal style of writing and its conceptual innovations. There is no doubt in my mind that this book it constitutes an important contribution to the manner in which we think of disaster and its relation to the everyday not only in the social sciences but also in policy sciences.”  ·  Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University

• List of FiguresAcknowledgementsChapter 1. Processing Disaster and RecoveryThe Disaster and the EverydayLocal Worlds and RecoveryFigure and Ground in Disaster AnthropologyTransformation and Future TrajectoriesBook OutlineChapter 2. The Field: Entrance and EmergenceArrivalEmergent FieldsMapping Place and PeopleFieldwork on FootA Walk around the VillageThe Lay of the LandChapter 3. The Dwelling: Homes and HazardsBuild Back BetterBereavement and Moving onHoming InChapter 4. On Forecasting: Wind and WaterWeather or NotThe Landfall of DisasterDropping the AnchorForecasts and PrecautionsIn a Climate of Changing TidesChapter 5. Responsibility: Agents and AgenciesLocal Level Humanitarian SupportOn the Limits of CommunityRecuperating SubjectsChapter 6. Confusing Hardships: Onslaught and OpportunityIn Need of RepairCertifying the FutureThe Ties That BindRallying for SafetyProjecting ProgressChapter 7. Materialisations of Loss: Monument and MemoryMonumental MemoriesThe Materiality of LossOn New PlotsChapter 8. Everyday Life: Tsunami TimeBibliographyIndex