This is the first full length account of the life and ideas of Mary Douglas, the British social anthropologist whose publications span the second half of the twentieth century. Richard Fardon covers Douglas' family background, and the pervasive influence of her catholic faith on her writings before providing an analysis of two of her most influential works; Purity and Danger (1966) and Natural Symbols (1970). The final section deals with Douglas' more controversial writings in the fields of economics, consumption, religion and risk analysis in contemporary societies. Throughout, Fardon highlights the centrality of Douglas' role in the history of anthropology and the discipline's struggle to achieve relevance to contemporary, western societies.
In 1995 the book was included among the Times Literary Supplement's hundred most influential non-fiction works since WWII.
This collection follows on from the programme for studying risk and blame that was implied in Purity and Danger and has been developed in subsequent publications.
"Douglas forewarns us that institutions do not think independently, nor do they have purposes, nor do they build themselves.
First published in 1987, Constructive Drinking is a series of original case studies organized into three sections based on three major functions of drinking.
Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai.
Offering a new and controversial interpretation of Leviticus this book sets out an anthropological perspective on the Jewish purity laws.
Their book will find a wide audience among social scientists and will also interest anyone engaged in current discussions of poverty. This book is a copublication with the Russell Sage Foundation.
Herbert A. Simon, "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 99 (1955), 99-118. 5. ... October 1975); William W. Lowrance, Of Acceptable Risk: Science and the Determination of Safety (Los Altos, Calif.
First published in 1979, this volume introduces a cultural factor to theories of consumption. The World of Goods goes beyond standard economic analyses, which rely on theories of individual psychology.
The papers in this text demonstrate the importance of seeking to understand beliefs and practices that are implicit and a priori within what might seem to be alien cultures.