Purity and Communal Boundaries explores the rich complexities of a central Bangladeshi village, populated by Muslims, Hindus and Christians. Through a carefully constructed theoretical framework Sand Rozario demonstrates the ways in which class and communal domination reinforce gender inequality. The position of women is analysed in terms of linkages between religious values, sexuality, economics and politics. Rozario also examines the divergence between the demands of the economy and the system of values in Bengali society. The author draws on concepts of sexual purity, shame, honour and parda (seclusion) to make new and stimulating observations about the connections between socioeconomic change, inter-communal tensions and specific aspects of women's contemporary experience such as increased physical mobility, and the shift from dowry to bride price.