Marilyn Strathern
Encyclopedia
Dame Ann Marilyn Strathern, DBE
, FBA (born 6 March 1941) is a British anthropologist who was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge
from 1998 until her retirement in 2009. She was the William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
at Cambridge University from 1994 to 2008.
and at Girton College, Cambridge
. In 1963 she married another anthropologist, Andrew Strathern, and they had three children though the marriage was later dissolved.
Strathern was a visiting professor at the Australian National University
in Canberra, Australia and the University of California, Berkeley
. From 1985 to 1993 she was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester
, before returning to take a chair at the University of Cambridge
. In addition she was Mistress of Girton College from 1998 to 2009.
Strathern has conducted fieldwork in Papua New Guinea
and the United Kingdom
: her anthropological work has used Melanesia
n conceptions, as well as feminist insights, to question the universality of some Western categories often taken to be fundamental: society, the individual, relation, property, substance, effect, nature, culture and so on. She has also written about new reproductive technologies and intellectual property law and her most recent work focuses on the complexities of transparency, accountability, and audit, especially within the academy.
Currently a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
, she also chairs the Council’s Working Party on human bodies in medicine and research (report to be published autumn 2011).
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FBA (born 6 March 1941) is a British anthropologist who was Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...
from 1998 until her retirement in 2009. She was the William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology
The William Wyse Professorship of Social Anthropology is a professorship in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge. It was founded on 18 June 1932 and endowed partly with the support of Trinity College from money bequeathed to them by William Wyse, formerly Fellow and Honorary Fellow of...
at Cambridge University from 1994 to 2008.
Biography
Born Ann Marilyn Evans to Eric Charles Evans and Joyce Florence Evans, Strathern was educated at Bromley High SchoolBromley High School
Bromley High School is a girls' independent school located in Bickley, Greater London. The school is part of The Girls' Day School Trust and was founded in 1883...
and at Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...
. In 1963 she married another anthropologist, Andrew Strathern, and they had three children though the marriage was later dissolved.
Strathern was a visiting professor at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
in Canberra, Australia and the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. From 1985 to 1993 she was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, before returning to take a chair at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. In addition she was Mistress of Girton College from 1998 to 2009.
Strathern has conducted fieldwork in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
: her anthropological work has used Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
n conceptions, as well as feminist insights, to question the universality of some Western categories often taken to be fundamental: society, the individual, relation, property, substance, effect, nature, culture and so on. She has also written about new reproductive technologies and intellectual property law and her most recent work focuses on the complexities of transparency, accountability, and audit, especially within the academy.
Currently a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Nuffield Council on Bioethics
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is a UK-based independent charitable body, which examines and reports on ethical issues raised by new advances in biological and medical research...
, she also chairs the Council’s Working Party on human bodies in medicine and research (report to be published autumn 2011).
Work
- Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen (1971)
- Women in Between (1972)
- No Money on Our Skins: Hagen Migrants in Port Moresby (1975) ISBN 0-85818-027-8
- Kinship at the Core: an Anthropology of Elmdon, Essex (1981) ISBN 0-521-23360-7
- The Gender of the Gift: Problems with Women and Problems with Society in Melanesia (1988) ISBN 0-520-07202-2
- Partial connections. Savage, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield (1991). Re-issued by AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA. (2004)
- After Nature: English Kinship in the Late Twentieth Century (1992) ISBN 978-0-521-42680-0
- Property, substance and effect. Anthropological essays on persons and things. London: Athlone Press (1999) Collected essays, 1992-98 ISBN 0-485-12149-2
- Commons and borderlands: working papers on interdisciplinarity, accountability and the flow of knowledge (2004) ISBN 0-9545572-2-0
- (ed. with Eric Hirsch) Transactions and creations: property debates and the stimulus of Melanesia, Oxford: Berghahn.
- (ed) Audit Cultures. Anthropological studies in accountability, ethics and the academy. (2000) London: Routledge.
- Kinship, law and the unexpected: Relatives are often a surprise. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2005) ISBN 0-521-61509-7