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Ordinary Extraordinary takes on the task of untangling the relationship between expert categorisations of risk and the on-the-ground experiences of untrained ‘ordinary’ people who may be routinely subjected to significant danger in a variety of extraordinary contexts. Contributors show how, in such contexts, the habituated and reflexive practices of ordinary risk-takers frequently call into question the rationale underpinning established modes of risk-assessment. Indeed, where non-ordinary risk intervenes unpredictably to threaten the stability of everyday life, where ordinary life is precariously positioned in close proximity to major natural hazards, and where edges are sought and constructed as loci for specific technical engagement, risk is variably framed and differentially evaluated. In covering these areas, the volume considers political, ethical and moral dimensions of risk and calls for more targeted ethnographic research, designed to reveal how grass-root risk dispositions and practice intersect with official discourses, individual agency and community resilience.