Susan R Trencher
Biographic Data
| ID | 213445 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Susan R Trencher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Susan R |
| FAMILY NAME | Trencher |
| SIGNATURE | TRENCHER S R |
| AFFILIATIONS | George Mason University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Tribalism
Historically, “tribalism” was defined as loyalty to tribes in Africa, Asia, and North and South America with shared customs and beliefs, which were viewed in the west as insular and “primitive.” The study of these groups began in the discipline of anthropology but now encompasses a broad range of disciplinary interests, each with its own focus. By the 1970s, the term “tribalism” had been so inconsistently used and misapplied in anthropology that …
Tribalism
Tribalism was historically defined by scholars to refer to African and North and South American indigenous populations focused on customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups (tribes) that share kinship, a way of life, property held in common, and an absence of recognized political authority beyond the group. Such tribes borrow ideas and practices from each other, as well as adopting members of other groups. British and South African soc…
Cultural Relativism
In the decade 2000–10 there are two broad understandings of cultural relativism: modern and postmodern. In modern cultural relativism, cultural beliefs and behaviors are to be examined in relation to their culture. Since the mid‐twentieth century, in line with shifts toward literary and postmodern epistemology and method, cultural relativism more often than not refers to the view that cultural beliefs and behaviors are most appropriately seen as …
Tribalism
Tribalism refers to customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups that share a common identity and in which centralized political organization and authority are usually absent. The term generally designates a form of political organization between “bands,” which occur in small‐scale societies with no formal leadership positions, and “chiefdoms,” found in larger societies, where tribes and villages are permanently allied under one leader. …
Boas, Franz (1858–1942)
As the “father of American anthropology,” Franz Boas was, and remains, the single most influential figure in American anthropology. Trained as a scientist, Boas had an interest in human evolution and physical characteristics as well as in human lifeways and cultural institutions. This interest led him to single‐handedly craft American anthropology as a unique “umbrella” discipline under which four large subdisciplines are held as related: archaeo…
American Anthropology and the Opening of the Ethnographic “I”
Tribalism
Tribalism refers to customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups (tribes) sharing a common identity and in which centralized political organization and authority are absent. Academic and public references to tribalism have been expanded to refer to behaviors and beliefs associated with diverse populations, including those that share any one of, or all of, the following: race, ethnicity, language, religion, ways of life, kinship, attitude…
Threatening Anthropology
The American Anthropological Association and the Values of Science, 1935-70
American anthropologists have repeatedly addressed questions about the nature of anthropology as a science and the relationship of anthropology to society. Complex interactions between anthropology and political events in American life have challenged definitions of science, including anthropologists as citizens, scientists, and professionals and the roles they appropriately play. A series of exchanges and events between the 1930s and 1970 are ex…
The literary project and representations of anthropology
In the 1980s, the publication of three works, `Ethnographies as Texts', Writing Culture, and Anthropology as Cultural Critique, signaled the arrival of a significantly literary project claimed as a critique of anthropology, widely reviewed and discussed at the time (both pro and con). These works have continued to have a major impact on anthropological practice, particularly in the United States. In this article, I return to these `early works' i…
Righteous Anthropology
In 1995, American anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes called for a militant anthropology in which anthropologists, on postulated moral grounds, intervene in the activities and lives of those among whom they do research. Using her fieldwork in South America as a template for her work in South Africa, Scheper-Hughes argued her project as a global one, and as the sole legitimate grounds for anthropological practice. While the dilemmas addressed by S…
The Study of Culture, Revised Edition
The literary project and representations of anthropology
In the 1980s, the publication of three works, `Ethnographies as Texts', Writing Culture, and Anthropology as Cultural Critique, signaled the arrival of a significantly literary project claimed as a critique of anthropology, widely reviewed and discussed at the time (both pro and con). These works have continued to have a major impact on anthropological practice, particularly in the United States. In this article, I return to these `early works' i…
The American Anthropological Association and the Values of Science, 1935-70
American anthropologists have repeatedly addressed questions about the nature of anthropology as a science and the relationship of anthropology to society. Complex interactions between anthropology and political events in American life have challenged definitions of science, including anthropologists as citizens, scientists, and professionals and the roles they appropriately play. A series of exchanges and events between the 1930s and 1970 are ex…
Righteous Anthropology
In 1995, American anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes called for a militant anthropology in which anthropologists, on postulated moral grounds, intervene in the activities and lives of those among whom they do research. Using her fieldwork in South America as a template for her work in South Africa, Scheper-Hughes argued her project as a global one, and as the sole legitimate grounds for anthropological practice. While the dilemmas addressed by S…
The Study of Culture, Revised Edition
Righteous Anthropology
In 1995, American anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes called for a militant anthropology in which anthropologists, on postulated moral grounds, intervene in the activities and lives of those among whom they do research. Using her fieldwork in South America as a template for her work in South Africa, Scheper-Hughes argued her project as a global one, and as the sole legitimate grounds for anthropological practice. While the dilemmas addressed by S…
The American Anthropological Association and the Values of Science, 1935-70
American anthropologists have repeatedly addressed questions about the nature of anthropology as a science and the relationship of anthropology to society. Complex interactions between anthropology and political events in American life have challenged definitions of science, including anthropologists as citizens, scientists, and professionals and the roles they appropriately play. A series of exchanges and events between the 1930s and 1970 are ex…
The literary project and representations of anthropology
In the 1980s, the publication of three works, `Ethnographies as Texts', Writing Culture, and Anthropology as Cultural Critique, signaled the arrival of a significantly literary project claimed as a critique of anthropology, widely reviewed and discussed at the time (both pro and con). These works have continued to have a major impact on anthropological practice, particularly in the United States. In this article, I return to these `early works' i…
Threatening Anthropology
Tribalism
Tribalism refers to customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups (tribes) sharing a common identity and in which centralized political organization and authority are absent. Academic and public references to tribalism have been expanded to refer to behaviors and beliefs associated with diverse populations, including those that share any one of, or all of, the following: race, ethnicity, language, religion, ways of life, kinship, attitude…
American Anthropology and the Opening of the Ethnographic “I”
Cultural Relativism
In the decade 2000–10 there are two broad understandings of cultural relativism: modern and postmodern. In modern cultural relativism, cultural beliefs and behaviors are to be examined in relation to their culture. Since the mid‐twentieth century, in line with shifts toward literary and postmodern epistemology and method, cultural relativism more often than not refers to the view that cultural beliefs and behaviors are most appropriately seen as …
Tribalism
Tribalism refers to customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups that share a common identity and in which centralized political organization and authority are usually absent. The term generally designates a form of political organization between “bands,” which occur in small‐scale societies with no formal leadership positions, and “chiefdoms,” found in larger societies, where tribes and villages are permanently allied under one leader. …
Boas, Franz (1858–1942)
As the “father of American anthropology,” Franz Boas was, and remains, the single most influential figure in American anthropology. Trained as a scientist, Boas had an interest in human evolution and physical characteristics as well as in human lifeways and cultural institutions. This interest led him to single‐handedly craft American anthropology as a unique “umbrella” discipline under which four large subdisciplines are held as related: archaeo…
Tribalism
Tribalism was historically defined by scholars to refer to African and North and South American indigenous populations focused on customs and beliefs transmitted and enacted in groups (tribes) that share kinship, a way of life, property held in common, and an absence of recognized political authority beyond the group. Such tribes borrow ideas and practices from each other, as well as adopting members of other groups. British and South African soc…
Tribalism
Historically, “tribalism” was defined as loyalty to tribes in Africa, Asia, and North and South America with shared customs and beliefs, which were viewed in the west as insular and “primitive.” The study of these groups began in the discipline of anthropology but now encompasses a broad range of disciplinary interests, each with its own focus. By the 1970s, the term “tribalism” had been so inconsistently used and misapplied in anthropology that …
Sociology (11 works) · Anthropology (10 works) · Political science (7 works) · History (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Anthropological Studies and Insights (4 works) · Politics (4 works) · Tribalism (4 works)