Customer Reviews

Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines

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In this creatively conceived and well documented study, Tony Becher explores the notion that the content of an academic discipline determines the kinds of perspectives which emerge from the study of the discipline. He found that this influence can be so pervasive as to shape social structures within disciplines and political and social relationships between disciplines. His work predates Teirney & Bensimone's observations regarding differential faculty socialization processes among disciplines, and directly support's David Kolb's findings regarding the relationship between learning style and academic content, and Anthony Biglan's findings (1973) regarding qualitative differences in the nature of academic work. After reading Academic Tribes and Territories I found it very difficult to ignore its implications for the study of student subcultures, the delivery of student services, and the assessment of educational outcomes. I strongly recommend this book to anybody considering the study of faculty or student subcultures in higher education. If Tinto's (1975) assertion that socialization is essential to persistance is valid, further research should reveal qualitiative differences in how students successfully socialize into the various academic disciplines. Academic Tribes and Territories provides refreshing insights into the subtle dynamics which underlie this process. It is a scholarly book, which takes the topic far beyond the insightful if ungrounded musings of Hazard Adams' entertaining work, The Academic Tribes (1976). Tony Becher has produced a gem. Read it!

My main impression of this work by Becher is that it is far from to the point. The author strives towards assisting the reader in making their own decision, which as such is not a bad idea, but it results in the book missing an adequate structure. Time and time again the author gets lost in details, quotes, and footnotes, while the reader has no idea of the the bigger picture since that is not presented until much later. The practical application of the theme of the book (classification of academic disciplines - only twelve of them, by the way) does not come until the very end.
If I'd recommend this book it would be for the lack of something better. For those enjoying a good, clear, to-the-point and enjoyable-to-read textbook this one would not be the right choice.