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Mary Douglas

Mary Douglas Books

Anthropologist

Mary Douglas was an influential British anthropologist known for her research on culture, symbolism, and rituals. Her work has had a profound impact on understanding social structures and human behavior.

How Institutions Think

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Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology

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“Where there is dirt there is system. Dirt is the byproduct of a systematic ordering and classification of matter.”

Matter Materials Dirt Systematic Classification

Author:Mary Douglas

“Institutions have the pathetic megalomania of the computer whose whole vision of the world is its own program.”

World Whole Vision Computer Program Institutions Pathetic Megalomania

Book:How Institutions Think

Source: How Institutions Think

“If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.”

Ifs Want Culture Change Organization Culture Change

Author:Mary Douglas

“I am convinced that living in an enclave shapes the personality, and living alone shapes the personality too.”

Personality Shapes Convinced Living Alone

Author:Mary Douglas

“Without the letters of condolence, telegrams of congratulations and even occasional postcards, the friendship of a separated friend is not a social reality. It has no existence without the rites of friendship. Social rituals create a reality which would be nothing without them.”

Knows Reality Would Be Social Existence Too Much Impossible Letters Relation Ritual Congratulations Occasional Symbolic Rite Condolences Postcards Telegrams Social Relations

Author:Mary Douglas

“I am sure it must be true that people opt out of the mainstream society because they feel that there are going to be no rewards for them, if they stay.”

People Ifs Feels Rewards Being True Mainstream Mainstream Society

Author:Mary Douglas

“It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.”

Want Doe Community Sweet Harm Vengeful

Author:Mary Douglas

“Since 1970, relationships can be more volatile, jobs more ephemeral, geographical mobility more intensified, stability of marriage weaker.”

Jobs Stability Ephemeral Mobility

Author:Mary Douglas

“Yes, disappointment over perceived unfairness, injustice, promises not kept, tends to go hand in hand with increasing prosperity. Expectations are dashed. What can I say!”

Hands Promise Expectations Injustice Disappointment Prosperity Hand In Hand Unfairness

Author:Mary Douglas

“Pretensions to moral superiority are devastatingly destructive.”

Moral Destructive Superiority Pretension Moral Superiority

Author:Mary Douglas

“Real equality is immensely difficult to achieve, it needs continual revision and monitoring of distributions. And it does not provide buffers between members, so they are continually colliding or frustrating each other.”

Needs Doe Real Difficult Achieve Members Equality Frustrated Distribution Frustrating Revision Monitoring

Author:Mary Douglas

“Religion can make it worse. Are you supposing that if people were encouraged to believe in a transcendent reality, and to be encouraged by grand rituals and music and preaching, to love their neighbors, then they would put jealousy and frustration aside?”

People Ifs Believe Reality Neighbor Jealousy Frustration Ritual Preaching Transcendent Be Encouraged Supposing Supposing That

Author:Mary Douglas

“Inside a religious body you get sects and hierarchies, inside an information network you get bazaars and cathedrals, it is the same, call them what you like. They survive by pointing the finger of blame at each other.”

Body Religious Information Blame Fingers Pointing Hierarchy Sects Cathedrals Pointing Fingers Bazaars

Author:Mary Douglas

“When we are reflecting on terrorism we can grieve for many things we do and have done.”

Done Terrorism Grieving Reflecting

Author:Mary Douglas

“Any great organization can go through sectarian phases.”

Organization Phases Great Organizations

Author:Mary Douglas

“Hierarchy is is much reviled in the present day.”

Hierarchy Present Day

Author:Mary Douglas

“Hierarchy works well in a stable environment.”

Wells Environment Stable Hierarchy

Author:Mary Douglas

“It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.”

Done Worry Harm Organized Reasonable Arrangements Recycling Organized Religion

Author:Mary Douglas

“The natural response of the old-timers is to build a strong moral wall against the outside. This is where the world starts to be painted in black and white, saints inside, and sinners outside the wall.”

World Strong Black Natural White Moral Wall Response Saint Sinner Black And White Timer Old Timers

Author:Mary Douglas

“Our technological infrastructure alienates us from each other. No need to form a workplace community, everybody there will be out in a year or two, and so will you, looking for a better place.”

Needs Years Two Form Community Safety Technological Workplace Better Place Infrastructure Workplace Safety

Author:Mary Douglas

“The theory of cultural bias... is the idea that a culture is based on a particular form of organization. It can't be transplanted except to another variant of that organization.”

Ideas Form Culture Particular Theory Organization Prejudice Bias

Author:Mary Douglas

“Behind a leader there must be followers, but they should always be on the lookout for the main chance and ready to change sides if the current leader doesn't deliver.”

Ifs Should Sides Leadership Chance Behinds Leader Ready Currents Followers

Author:Mary Douglas

“If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny.”

People Ifs Want Religious Groups Competition Chill Piety

Author:Mary Douglas

“The human body is always treated as an image of society.”

Humans Body Treated Human Body

Book:Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology

Source: Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology

“It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat.”

Feels Made Seems Christian Growth Christianity Threat Organized Secularism Good Christian

Author:Mary Douglas

“Mormons... are so strong, they can handle wealth, they are confident. I think it is because they are not bogged down by rules for equality, but have a firmly defined system of relative status and responsible command.”

Thinking Strong Wealth Responsible Equality Handle Command Defined Relative

Author:Mary Douglas

“Inequality can have a bad downside, but equality, for its part, sure does get in the way of coordination.”

Way Doe Equality Inequality Coordination

Author:Mary Douglas

“Enclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off.”

Leader Threat Tense Factions Splitting

Author:Mary Douglas

“Some scholars have been arguing that a civilizational clash between organized religions is the next step in human history.”

Humans Has Beens Next Steps Arguing Organized Scholar Human History Clash Next Steps Organized Religion

Author:Mary Douglas

“Islam is in principle egalitarian, and has always had problems with power.”

Problem Principles Islam Egalitarianism

Author:Mary Douglas

“It's unlikely that the organized religions will get more sectarian... or is it? I am not at all sure.”

Organized Unlikely Organized Religion

Author:Mary Douglas

“Every year the progress of advanced capitalist society makes our population consist of more and more isolates. This is because of the infrastructure of the economy, especially electronic communications.”

Years Economy Progress Communication Population Capitalist Infrastructure Electronic Communication

Author:Mary Douglas

“I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.”

Years Doe Today Felt Civilization Harm Religion Today

Author:Mary Douglas

“Just in our lifetime our society has become looser and more private, it becomes extremely difficult to hold to any permanent commitment whatever, least of all to organized religion.”

Difficult Commitment Lifetime Permanent Organized Our Society Organized Religion

Author:Mary Douglas

“The history of the Church of Rome is a constant leakage of members into such breakaway cults, which go on splitting.”

Church Goes On Members Constant Rome Cult Splitting Leakage Breakaway

Author:Mary Douglas

“If we can abstract pathogenicity and hygiene from our notion of dirt, we are left with the old definition of dirt as matter out of place. This is a very suggestive approach. It implies two conditions: a set of ordered relations and a contrevention of that order. Dirt then, is never a unique, isolated event. Where there is dirt there is a system. Dirt is the by-product of a systematic ordering and classification of matter, in so far as ordering involves rejecting inappropriate elements.”

Ifs Two Matter Order Left Conditions Events Products Elements Approach Unique Relation Notion Definitions Abstract Isolated Dirt Systematic Inappropriate Rejecting Hygiene Classification

Author:Mary Douglas

About the Author

Born: March 25, 1921
Died: May 16, 2007
Known for: Anthropologist
Quotes: 36

Related Topics

Ifs Organized Doe Organized Religion Equality Harm Hierarchy Organization People Want

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People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

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How Institutions ThinkRelated source material

Natural Symbols: Explorations in CosmologyRelated source material

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