First published in 1992, this volume follows on from the programme for studying risk and blame that was implied in Purity and Danger. The first half of the book Douglas argues that the study of risk needs a systematic framework of political and cultural comparison. In the latter half she examines questions in cultural theory. Through the eleven essays contained in Risk and Blame, Douglas argues that the prominence of risk discourse will force upon the social sciences a programme of rethinking and consolidation that will include anthropological approaches.

    Part I Rish and Blame; Chapter 1 Risk and Blame; Chapter 2 Risk and Justice; Chapter 3 Risk and Danger; Chapter 4 Muffled Ears; Chapter 5 Witchcraft and Leprosy; Chapter 6 The Self as Risk-Taker; Part II Wants and Institutions; Chapter 7 The Normative Debate and the Origins of Culture; Chapter 8 Wants; Chapter 9 No Free Gifts; Chapter 10 Institutions of the Third Kind; Chapter 11 Autonomy and Opportunism; Part III Believing and Thinking; Chapter 12 Thought Style Exemplified; Chapter 13 Credibility; Chapter 14 A Credible Biosphere; Chapter 15 The Debate On Women Priests; Chapter 16 The Hotel Kwilu;

    Biography

    Mary Douglas