Mary Douglas
Dame Mary Douglas Born Margaret Mary Tew (1921-03-25)25 March 1921 Sanremo Died 16 May 2007(2007-05-16) (aged 86) London Nationality British Fields Social anthropology, Comparative religion Institutions University College London, Russell Sage Foundation, Northwestern University, Princeton University Alma mater University of Oxford Doctoral advisor E. E. Evans-Pritchard Known for Purity and Danger, Natural Symbols, Cultural theory of risk Influences Émile Durkheim Influenced David Bloor Steve Rayner Peter Brown Notable awards FBA, CBE, DBE Anthropology Disciplines Archaeological Biological Cultural Linguistic Social Discipline subfields Social and cultural subfields Applied Art Cognitive Cyborg Development Digital Ecological Environmental Economic Political economy Feminist Historical Kinship Legal Media Medical Musical Nutritional Political Psychological Public Religion Transpersonal Urban Visual Linguistic subfields Descriptive Ethno- Historical Semiotic Sociolinguistics Archaeological and biological subfields Anthrozoological Biocultural Evolutionary Feminist Forensic Maritime Palaeoanthropological Research framework Ethnocentrism Ethnography Ethnology Emic and etic Participant observation Online ethnography Cross-cultural comparison Holism Reflexivity Cultural relativism History of anthropology Key theories Actor-network theory Alliance theory Cross-cultural studies Cultural ecology Cultural materialism Culture theory Diffusionism Feminism Functionalism Historical particularism Interpretive Performance studies Political economy Practice theory Structuralism Post-structuralism Systems theory Key concepts Evolution Society Culture Prehistory Sociocultural evolution Kinship and descent Gender Race Ethnicity Development Colonialism Postcolonialism Value Lists Outline Bibliography Journals By years List of indigenous peoples Organizations Anthropologists by nationality Anthropology portal v t e Dame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA (25 March 1921 – 16 May 2007) was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism, whose area of speciality was social anthropology. Douglas was considered a follower of Émile Durkheim and a proponent of structuralist analysis, with a strong interest in comparative religion.