Douglas's thinking has particular relevance now, according to the Young Foundation, which arranged the lecture in conjunction with University College London. Her life experience of thinking about how societies organise themselves and how people relate to each other could offer insights into phenomena such as the rise of the far right and of religiously inspired terrorism. It is her group and grid theory that is particularly useful, argues Alessandra Buonfino, Young Foundation fellow, and this was the area on which last night's lecture focused.

The theory conceptualises four main types of social organisation co-existing in different degrees of dominance in every society; they are in conflict with each other in a constant dynamic. The four types are plotted on a graph with two axes.

The horizontal axis represents the strength of group norms, such as family and local community, while

the vertical axis represents the strength of the grid - those less intimate mechanisms of control such as laws, religious authority, economic forces and institutional disciplines.

The first type is strong on group and grid; this would be true of very hierarchical, tightly ordered societies in which tradition is very important. The second type is weak on both group and grid and is highly individualist, entrepreneurial, adaptive to constant change, and is dominant in the UK and the US. The third type is represented by a weak group affiliation but experiences high grid regulation; Douglas describes these as "isolates", and marginal groups such as asylum seekers would fit this model. The fourth type is the "enclave", which offers a strong group but weak grid regulation. Enclaves recruit among the isolates.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/apr/04/communities....