ABSTRACT
The notion of ‘academic tribes’ from Becher’s 1989 ‘landmark work’ (Bayer 1991: 224) has passed into the discourse of higher education research to such an extent that it is often used without reference to the original text (for example Davies 2006). It was a ‘colourful’ metaphor that was taken up with such acclaim that it has come to dominate discourses around disciplines, disciplinary knowledge, disciplinary affiliation; indeed, everything to do with the ways in which knowledge is defined and organised within universities. The use of the ‘tribes’ metaphor has extended well beyond those who have read the text, to permeate academic practice and policy across the globe. Becher’s book provided a way of thinking about disciplines and about the people who inhabit them which appeared to be intuitively ‘correct’ and provided a framework for further thinking at the time. However, universities have substantially changed since the publication of Tribes and Territories. Notions of knowledge have undergone radical shifts. Research is increasingly called upon to address multidisciplinary questions and modular course structures mean that university study has become more interdisciplinary. There are reasons to suppose that these trends will continue.
