Perception of volcanic eruption as agent of change on Merapi volcano, Central Java

Events like volcanic eruptions challenge equilibrium models of nature. This is a study of the perceptions of eruptions as agents of change, taking Mt. Merapi in Central Java as a case study. Villagers living on Merapi have developed a system of religious belief, and a system of agro-ecological practices, that ‘domesticates’ the volcanic hazard. The villagers view eruptions as agents of change, often change for the good. The Indonesian government, on the other hand, technologizes and exoticizes the volcanic hazard, and conceptually and materially separates it from the realm of civil society. The state focuses its attention exclusively on intermittent moments of heightened volcanic activity, whereas the villagers focus their attention on the much longer interim periods when there is little or no such activity. This case study shows that not just the perception of risk, but the very concept of risk itself can vary. The cultural production of such concepts co-evolves with natural patterns of perturbation.