This is the first full-length account of the life and ideas of Mary Douglas, whom many consider to be the most influential British social anthropologist of the modern era. Richard Fardon covers Douglas' family background, education and early research before providing an analysis of two of her most important works: Purity and Danger (1966) and Natural Symbols (1970). The final section deals with Douglas' often controversial forays across disciplinary boundaries--into Old Testament studies as well as the fields of economics, religion and risk analysis in contemporary societies.

An indispensable aid to further research, Mary Douglas: An Intellectual Biography offers a significant contribution to the history of social anthropology in the second half of the twentieth century and will surely remain the definitive work on its subject for years to come.