Mary Douglas

Anthropology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perri 6 ◽  
Paul Richards
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Thought Style ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
Grand Public ◽  
Theories Of Change

Mary Douglas b. 1921–d. 2007 was an anthropologist and social theorist working in the Durkheimian tradition. Most anthropologists know her 1966 book Purity and Danger (Douglas 1966, cited under Social Organization in Microcosm), and perhaps Natural Symbols (Douglas 1970, cited under Variation in Elementary Forms of Institutions and Social Organization). In other disciplines her The World of Goods (Douglas and Isherwood 1979, cited under Explanation, Institutionalization, and Ritual) and How Institutions Think (Douglas 1986, cited under Explanation, Institutionalization, and Ritual), Risk and Blame (Douglas 1992, cited under Variation in Elementary Forms of Institutions and Social Organization), Leviticus as Literature (Douglas 1999a, cited under Social Organization in Microcosm) and Thinking in Circles (Douglas 2007, cited under Late Ethnographic Work) have been very influential. She argued that institutional social organization exhibits only limited variation in its elementary forms, although in empirical settings, many hybrids of these forms are available. These institutional forms of social organization and disorganization shape and therefore causally explain “thought styles,” meaning the manners in which people classify, remember, forget, feel, and so on. The causal mechanism by which organization cultivates thought style, she argued, works through quotidian ritual, even for those who reject grand public ceremonial: “As a social animal, man is a ritual animal” (Douglas 1966, cited under Social Organization in Microcosm, p. 63). Douglas cross-tabulated Durkheim’s two dimensions of institutional variation in social organization (from Durkheim’s book Suicide)—social regulation and social integration, or, as she called them, “grid” and “group.” These forms specify organization and thought style in any setting, irrespective of technological sophistication or field of endeavor. In Suicide, Durkheim attended to the apices of the dimensions; Douglas concentrated on forms derived deductively in the resulting four cells. These forms are hierarchy (strong regulation and integration), individualism (weak regulation and integration), enclave (weak regulation, strong integration), and isolate ordering (strong regulation, weak integration). Contrary to the conventional wisdom that there is a “micro-macro problem,” Douglas argued that the same elementary forms organize people at the large and small scales alike. Methodologically, she argued that research should identify things that are anomalous within the prevailing classifications, examine how those anomalies are dealt with (or not), and seek to explain them functionally. She examined empirical anomalies about animals, dirt (for which she revived Lord Chesterfield’s definition of “matter out of place”), risks, and dangers. In her last years, she applied her method to ancient Israel as revealed in the Hebrew Bible, showing how distinct styles of composition are cultivated among authors and editors from different institutional settings. Her theory is a fully specified rival both to postmodernist rejections of causal explanation and to narrower rational choice conceptions of explanation by reference to interests and a single thought style. Other researchers extended her theory by supplying theories of change, dynamics, disorganization, hybridity, and settlement among elementary forms.

Dangerousness and mental disease in France: From stigmatization to prevention process

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 538-538
Author(s):  
C. Gheorghiev ◽  
B. Lahutte ◽  
H. Boisseaux
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Mental Disease ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
French Studies ◽  
Violent Behaviors ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference

IntroductionAlthough in close and old connections with psychiatry, dangerousness exceeds psychiatric field because of its transversal feature. By involving a potential attack of others’ integrity, dangerousness implies a social dimension.ObjectiveThe aim was to study social representations of mental disease, which are dominated by the specter of dangerousness and lead to its stigmatization, in order to outline a prevention prospect.MethodThe method was based on a review of literature of main French studies of social representations of mental disorder and mechanisms which lead to its stigmatization.ResultsThe representations of psychiatry in general population are homogeneous and consensual, organized around the figure of the « mad », the « mentally ill » and the « depressive people ». Madness and mental disease are associated with the most violent behaviors and the use of psychoactive drugs. Two dimensions appear in the representation of the dangerous individual, one linked to a trained aggressiveness, the second to an impulsive aggressiveness, confirming the validity of the usual distinction between criminological and psychiatric dangerousness. Three main data are at the source of stigmatization : the fear of what is discerned like a threat, the anomaly through the difference which is carried, and the social regulation.ConclusionThe struggle against mental disease stigmatization can be part of a prevention process allowing through the rehabilitation of the patient in the society the performance of a care which exceeds the simple treatment of the disorder.

scholarly journals How the Perception of Public Official on Organizational Culture Influences Procedural Justice in Environmental Policy Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Public Official ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
Graded Response ◽  
Original Survey

How does the organizational culture of local governments influence the type and extent of procedural justice in environmental policy processes? Using the culture theory developed by Mary Douglas and others, this research seeks to bring a new conception and new measures of organizational culture to the study of policy making by local governments. To contribute to the development of the conceptualization and measurement of procedural justice in the environmental policy processes of those governments, item response theory (IRT) graded response model (GRM) is used to show variations in difficulties and frequencies of adopting distinctive public participation strategies for improving procedural justice across local governments. In this study, original survey data is collected from Illinois municipalities and a finding is suggestive of cultural variables explaining the two dimensions of procedural justice, equal and authentic public participation, while other variables can, at best, explain only the equal public participation. Furthermore, as hypothesized, egalitarianism increases both equal and authentic public participation, individualism increases equal public participation, and fatalism decreases both.

Variation of greenness across China’s universities: motivations and resources

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanxia Zhao ◽  
Yonghua Zou
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Vertical Dimension ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
Greenness Index

Purpose This study aims to examine the cross-institutional variation in university greenness and analyze its underlying dynamics. Design/methodology/approach This study constructs a University Greenness Index (UGI) and conducts multivariate regression. Findings This study finds variation within two dimensions; in the vertical dimension, top-tier universities have significantly higher UGIs than tier-2 universities, and in the horizontal dimension, agricultural and forest, engineering and technology and generalist universities have significantly higher UGIs than other specialist universities. The dynamics underlying the greenness variation lies in different universities’ motivations and resources, which are associated with China’s higher education administrative system, especially the mechanism by which funding is allocated. Research limitations/implications The Internet-search-based greenness index has some inherent limitations. First, there exists a gap between green information expression and real green achievement. Second, this research may be difficult to apply to other countries, because of the specific characteristics of China’s higher education system. Practical implications Based on the empirical results, two policy implications can be generated. First, for the problem of the vertical dimension variation, related institutional transformation should be launched to promote university greenness. Second, for the problem of the horizon dimension variation, specialist universities can take advantage of an interdisciplinary approach to promote greenness. Originality/value This research helps scholars and administrators to better understand the progress being made and the achievements realized with regard to green university initiatives in China.

scholarly journals Exploring the long-term effect of strategy work: The case of Sustainable Sydney 2030

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802097954
Author(s):  
Martin Kornberger ◽  
Renate E Meyer ◽  
Markus A Höllerer
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Term Effect ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Thought Style ◽  
Thought Collective ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
Important Concern ◽  
Long Term Effect ◽  
Urban Strategy

Strategy has become an important concern and practical tool in urban management and governance, with the literature highlighting implementation as a hallmark of effective strategy. Whilst such a strategy–action link (which we label here as ‘implementation nexus’) has been well established, other long-term effects have been documented in less detail. Our study of Sustainable Sydney 2030 finds that strategy was effective to the extent to which it changed the institutional a priori of what a collective of actors engaged in city-making knows, what it can articulate and how its members relate to each other. We capture this effect as ‘institution nexus’ and theorise our findings with Ludwik Fleck’s concept of ‘thought style’ of a focal ‘thought collective’– notions that also centrally influenced Mary Douglas’ work on ‘how institutions think’. We contribute to extant research by adding the institution nexus as a long-term effect of urban strategy as well as by advancing strategy theory in urban studies to foreground its ability to shape institutions.

Tradition and Continuity: Rethinking the Practice of Christian Remembering

Horizons ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-77
Author(s):  
Colleen Mary Mallon
Keyword(s):  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Mary Douglas ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Goods ◽  
Shared Futures ◽  
Globalized World ◽  
Continuity And Discontinuity ◽  
Significant Point

ABSTRACTA significant point of contention in contemporary construals of continuity and discontinuity centers on the veiled logics of power/interest at work in human constructions of knowledge. In this paper I explore how the insights of anthropologist Mary Douglas might contribute towards a rethinking of memory and tradition within the ecclesial community. I argue that Douglas' perspective on the covert processes that create the social goods of both community and knowledge offer an important heuristic guide towards a more transparent analysis of tradition and how it functions in a globalized world. If continuity is both a claim and a practice that peoples make from shared histories for shared futures, the ecclesial claim and practice of continuity must enact a gospel reflexivity that is both critical and counter-intuitive in its hermeneutical retrieval of the memoria Christi. I conclude this paper with a detailed exploration of two dimensions such a critical, counter-intuitive hermeneutic might include.

scholarly journals Maternal effects mechanism of population cycling: a formidable competitor to the traditional predator–prey view

2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1520) ◽  
pp. 1117-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Inchausti ◽  
Lev R Ginzburg
Keyword(s):  
Density Dependence ◽  
Maternal Effects ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Generational Transmission ◽  
Periodic Behaviour ◽  
Degree Of Acceptance

In the language of mathematics, one needs minimally two interacting variables (two dimensions) to describe repeatable periodic behaviour, and in the language of density dependence, one needs delayed, not immediate, density dependence to produce cyclicity. Neither language specifies the causal mechanism. There are two major potential mechanisms: exogenous mechanisms involving species interactions as in predator–prey or host–parasite, and endogenous mechanisms such as maternal effects where population growth results from the cross-generational transmission of individual quality. The species interactions view stemming from a major observation of Elton and a simultaneous independent theory by Lotka and Volterra is currently dominant. Most ecologists, when faced with cyclic phenomena, automatically look for an interacting species one step below or above in a food chain in order to find an explanation. Maternal effects hypothesis, verbally suggested in the 1950s, had only found its theoretical implementation in the 1990s. In a relatively short time, the degree of acceptance of this view grew to the level of a ‘minority opinion’ as evidenced by the widely used textbook of Begon et al . This short review attempts to describe the arguments for and against this internal two-dimensional approach.

scholarly journals Neuro-cognitive Underpinning of Co-morbidity between Developmental Dyslexia and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Larysa Zasiekina
Keyword(s):  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Developmental Dyslexia ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Co Morbidity ◽  
Dorsolateral Cortex ◽  
Secondary Consequence

Developmental Dyslexia is a specific reading and writing disability despite of normal intelligence, educational instruction and socio-cultural opportunity. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects millions of children and often persists into adulthood. ADHD can include a combination of problems, such as difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour. The frequent co-morbidity of dyslexia and ADHD posed the question of the issue whether common causal mechanism can be identified. There are several causal explanation of the co-morbidity between dyslexia and ADHD. Firstly, the symptoms of ADHD associated with dyslexia are a secondary consequence of reading problems (‘phenocopy’ hypothesis). However, the finding could not substantiate in later studies. Therefore, the first aim the present research is to identify the frequency and nature of co-morbidity between dyslexics and ADHD children. Developmental Dyslexia and ADHD are some of the most complex developmental disorders that affect children population. These are some of the conditions which affect the ability of the children to benefit from education and engage with surroundings in a meaningful manner. These conditions may occur in isolation, but many times they overlap. These overlapping conditions are termed as co-morbidity, and this may reflect the greater difficulties experienced by the children with a combination of deficits. However, the underlying reasons for these and the subsequent behavioural deficits are not well understood. Thus, the second major goal of the article is to investigate neuro-cognitive underpinning of dyslexia and ADHD. Neuro-cognitive basis presented by prefrontal dorsolateral cortex dysfunction was revealed and executive functions presented by problems in phonological working memory, initiating the activity and multitasking were established.

The tangled web of agency

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Pe-Curto ◽  
Julien A. Deonna ◽  
David Sander
Keyword(s):  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Bad Company

AbstractWe characterize Doris's anti-reflectivist, collaborativist, valuational theory along two dimensions. The first dimension is socialentanglement, according to which cognition, agency, and selves are socially embedded. The second dimension isdisentanglement, the valuational element of the theory that licenses the anchoring of agency and responsibility in distinct actors. We then present an issue for the account: theproblem of bad company.

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