Douglas, Mary (1921–2007)

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, pp. 1–2

Abstract

Abstract Mary Douglas was one of the most influential social scientists of her generation, known for her anthropology of everyday life and her sociological theory of meaning. A core motif in her work is that cognitions are anchored in the sociopolitical realities in which they are produced: the social structuring of societies and the implicit social structuring of minds stem from the same principles. In anthropology, her most influential theory concerns the body as a natural symbol and pollution ideas as protecting where ambivalences and anomalies threaten the construction. Outside of anthropology, her cultural theory was extensively applied in fields such as the sociology of organizations and technology studies. This theory relates four types of social structures deriving from combinations of two dimensions of social control (grid and group) to specific thought styles concerned with risk. Finally, her elaborate studies of the Hebrew Bible left enduring marks on biblical scholarship.

Authors 1

1. Ria Reis corresponding Aachen

   University of Amsterdam · University of Cape Town · Leiden University Medical Center

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands

   University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

   University of Cape Town, South Africa