Mary Douglas (1) (1921–2007)

The author presents her a theme of ritual and a social meaning in a style that is clear, concise and delightful. Her comparisons of primitive and civilized institutions are provocative and lively, and her material on body imagery and social boundaries is truly exciting.

Interessante il modo in cui "attacca" la prospettiva economica del consumo di beni costruendoci sopra una teoria socio-antropologica fondata su concetti a volte brillanti (la natura sociale del consumo e le sue categorie), a volte non pienamente convincenti (la netta separazione tra consumo e mercato).

Douglas' seminal work addresses how humans tend to delineate reality based on concepts of cleanliness and uncleanliness and associate these divisions with the sacred and profane, order and chaos, or purity and pollution. Very relevant work in modern discussions of environmental perceptions and ethics

I rarely know how to rate anthropology texts. The only thing I'm sure of is that the book wasn't quite what I was expecting (I was hoping for a more theoretical/general/broadly comparative treatise on purity & pollution; this disappointed expectation was not, of course, the author's fault.)