Mary Douglas

Paul Richards held chairs in Anthropology at University College London and at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Currently, he is a member of the School of Environmental Sciences at Njala University Sierra Leone, where he directs research on climate change, food security and health. His publications include Ebola: How a People's Science Helped End an Epidemic (Zed Books, 2016).

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1. A Biographical SketchChapter 2. Purity and DangerChapter 3. Four Sides to Every QuestionChapter 4. Risks and SolidaritiesChapter 5. Institutions and Thought StylesChapter 6. Ritual and CategoriesChapter 7. Gifts, Goods, and Economic DevelopmentChapter 8. StrifeConclusionAppendixReferencesIndex

“A very thought-provoking book that provides a new way to look at modern conflict, disinformation and the loss of trust in institutions. Douglas's ideas are particularly timely now - but not well understood. This offers a lively, clear guide to her key thoughts - and a great frame to understand a world spinning out of control.” • Gillian Tett, Provost of King’s College Cambridge“The book is well written, adopting something of Mary’s own freedom of association. I think the authors are correct to plead for her relevance for contemporary anthropology. Especially when they are talking about apparently unsurmountable vicious polarizations.” • Peter Fry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)“This is a big book that happens to be short in length, a master class in lucid compression that faces both past and future: outlining Douglas’s biography and times, explaining her theories and their myriad applications, while building an original synthesis on her legacy.” • Richard Fardon, SOAS University of London