Douglas, Dirt, and Matter Out of Place

Budding

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Planted Jul 21, 2020 –

Last tended Apr 29, 2021

Anthropology

Mary Douglas defined dirt as matter out of place. Socks are not inherently dirty all the time.

A piece of toast is not inherently dirty, but a sock on a piece of toast is gross. As is finding toast in a sock drawer.

What offends us here is the crossing of boundaries

Purity and Danger

Mary Douglas

Purity and danger is considered an anthropological classic. Douglas analyses of the concepts of pollution, taboo, dirt, cleanliness, and power across cultures.

Linked References

Problematic Proteins

How to offend everyone with boundary-crossing steak and nuggets In 2013, in a dutch cellular engineering lab just outside of Utrecht, pharmacologist Mark Post produced a piece of meat without…

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