Mary Douglas

Cultural bias determines what we see as risky.

The sacred is that which is set apart.

Social environments condition our moral judgments.

Anthropology teaches us that no culture is superior.

The grid and group dimensions explain social forms.

Danger is never neutral; it's always moralized.

Ritual purity reinforces group solidarity.

In times of crisis, anomalies multiply.

Thought and action are inseparable in cultural analysis.

The Levitical laws are a blueprint for social order.

Risk perception is a form of social positioning.

Every society has its own way of managing the unclean.

Symbols gain power from their ambiguity.

Isolation breeds individualism; closeness breeds hierarchy.

The concept of pollution is universal yet culturally specific.

Anthropologists must respect the logic of other worlds.

Food taboos reveal the structure of society.

In my work, I've seen how fear shapes belief.

The body politic mirrors the human body.

Cultural theory is about patterns, not predictions.