Iranian Journal Of Antheropology

Iranian Journal Of Antheropology

From Scientific Community to Academic Tribes: Toward a Framework for Understanding the Academic World

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Aَbbas Varij Kazemi
Institute for Cultural, Social Studies, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/jasi.2026.2088944.1631
Abstract
The academic world, like other social worlds, is shaped by both argumentative and affective relations and therefore cannot be regarded as separate from the broader social sphere. Over recent decades, scholars have sought to distinguish these domains through specialized concepts, among which the notion of the scientific community has occupied a central position. Studies conducted in Iran suggest that the scientific community is not only a fragile and unstable formation but has also increasingly lost its explanatory capacity within academic life.

This article argues that, based on existing research, a scientific community has not, in practice, taken shape in Iran. Nevertheless, rather than reconsidering their understanding of the existing situation, researchers have largely focused on explaining the weakness of the scientific community and, in many cases, have implicitly justified the status quo. By revisiting the concept of the scientific community in sociological scholarship, this article proposes an alternative framework for understanding academic life and addresses a question that has often been overlooked.

Specifically, it asks whether the concept of academic tribes may provide a more effective analytical perspective once the absence of a scientific community is acknowledged. The article argues that this concept offers a different approach to understanding university life by focusing on mechanisms through which visible and hidden relations operate. While the scientific community framework emphasizes norms, ethics, and formal academic interactions, academic tribes draw attention to emotions, interests, and desires functioning beneath ostensibly scientific norms.
Keywords
scientific community
academic tribes
university
public sphere
Subjects
·       Abazari, Y. (2003). “Solving the Problem.” Social Sciences Letter, 1(21), 310–318 (in Persian).
·       Abbaszadeh, M., & Ghasemzadeh, D. (2018). “Knowledge Sharing: The Missing Link in Scientific Communities.” Culture Strategy. 42, 147–196 (in Persian).
·       Abdollahi, H., & Khoshtoo, Z. (2012). “The Scientific Community in Iranian Universities: A Case Study of the Faculties of Social Sciences at Allameh Tabataba’i University and the University of Tehran.” Iranian Sociology, 13(4), 24–59 (in Persian).
·       Abdollahi, M. (1996). “Sociology in Iran: A Look at the Past, Present, and Future.” Rahyāft, no. 13. Tehran: Scientific Research Council (in Persian).
·       Afshardoust Kermani, P. (2020). “An Examination of the Rituals of Interaction within the Sociological Community in Iran.” M.A. thesis in Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University (in Persian).
·       Alamdar, F. (2023). I Am the Professor: A Look at the Role Experience of Faculty Members in Iran. Tehran: Logos (in Persian).
·       Amini, M, & Qarakhani, M. (2020). “The Communicative and Normative System of the Scientific Community in Iranian Humanities.” Cultural Sociology Studies, 11(2), 1–30 (in Persian).
·       Arvin, B. (2017). “A Critical Examination of the Status of Academic Social Sciences in Iran: Proposing a Conceptual and Methodological Framework.” Journal of Methodology of the Humanities, 23(91), 393–449 (in Persian).
·       Azad Eramaki, T. (1999). Sociology of Sociology in Iran. Tehran: Kalameh Publishing Institute (in Persian).
·       Becher, T. (1989). Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. Milton Keynes: SRHE/Open University Press.
·       Becher, T., & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines. 2nd edn. Buckingham: Open University Press/SRHE.
·       Bourdieu, P. (2025). The Academic Man, translated by Hassan Chavoshian. Tehran: Parsheh Book Publishing (in Persian).
·       Collins, R. (2004). Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton University Press.
·       Cova, B. (1997). Community and Consumption: Towards a Definition of the “Linking Value” of Product or Services. European Journal of Marketing, 31(3/4), 297–316.
·       Ebrahimi, Ghorbanali. (1993). Scientific Community: Its Structure and Norms. Rahyāft, 2(5), 30–40 (in Persian).
·       Ebrahimi, G., & Behnouyi-Gadaneh, A. (2012). “A Sociological Study of the Challenges of the University Scientific Community.” Research and Planning in Higher Education, 18(63), 1–24 (in Persian).
·       Ghanei Rād, M.A. (2006). “The Status of the Scientific Community in the Field of Social Sciences.” Social Sciences Letter, 27, 27–56 (in Persian).
·       Ghanei Rād, M.A., & Qazi Poor, F. (2002). “Normative and Organizational Factors Affecting Faculty Productivity.” Cultural Research Letter. 4, 167-206 (in Persian).
·       Ghanei Rād, M.A., & Khosrokhavar, F. (2011. A). Sociology of Scientific Actors in Iran. Tehran: Elm Publishing (in Persian).
·       Ghanei Rād, M.A., & Khosrokhavar, F. (2011. B). “The Mentalities of Distinguished Natural Science Researchers about the Scientific Community in Iran.” Iranian Higher Education Association Biannual. 3(4), 7-33 (in Persian).
·       Ghanei Rād, M.A.; Maleki, A., & Mohammadi, Z. (2014). “A Study of Cultural Transformations in Three Academic Generations (Case Study: Social Science Professors at Universities in Tehran).” Iranian Sociology, 1(44), 30–64 (in Persian).
·       Ghazi Tabatabaei, M., & Marjaei, H. (2001). “An Investigation of the Factors Affecting the Academic Self-Efficacy of Master’s and Doctoral Students at the University of Tehran.” Higher Education Research and Planning Quarterly. 19, 187-226 (in Persian).
·       Ghazi Tabatabaei, M., & Widadhir, A. (2001). “Normative and Ethical Bias in Academic Research: A Comparative Study of Matters Related to Graduate Students at the University of Tehran.” Journal of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities (Tabriz), 44(181), 187–226 (in Persian).
·       Godazgar, H., & Alizadeh Aghdam, M.B. (2006). “A Study of the Factors Affecting Knowledge Production among Faculty Members.” Journal of Social Sciences. 3, 123-148 (in Persian).
·       Habermas, J. (1987). The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 2: Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Beacon Press / Polity Press.
·       Jalili, M.; Zahedi, M.J.; Ershad, F.; & Rabiei, A. (2016). “A Sociological Analysis of the Relationship between the Scientific Community and Scientific Capital.” Journal of Iranian Sociology, 17(3/67), 26–48 (in Persian).
·       Jalili, M.; Zahedi, M.J., & Ershad, F. (2017). “Examining the Functions and Cultural Position of Professors in the University Scientific Community (Case Study: Faculty Members of the Social Sciences Faculties in Tehran).” Iranian Social Science Studies, 14(52), 42–57 (in Persian).
·       Jalili, M.; Zahedi, M.J., & Ershad, F. (2018). “Examining the Status of the Scientific Community of Social Science Professors in Tehran City (Based on Pierre Bourdieu’s Field Theory).” Iranian Social Problems, 9(2), 5–26 (in Persian).
·       Janalizadeh Choubasti, H., & Alizadeh, M. (2014). “The Scientific Community of Sociology in Iran: Moral Density or Anomie?” Journal of Executive Management Research, 2(5), 9–41 (in Persian).
·       Knorr Cetina, K. (1999). Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge. Harvard University Press.
·       Maffesoli, M. (1996). The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society. London: Sage.
·       Manathunga, C., & Brew, A. (2012). Beyond Tribes and Territories: New Metaphors for New Times. In Paul Trowler, Murray Saunders, & Veronica Bamber (Eds.), Tribes and Territories in the 21st Century: Rethinking the Significance of Disciplines in Higher Education (pp. 44–56). London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
·       Marjaei, H. (2011). “Factors Affecting the Internalization of University and Professional Norms in the Iranian Scientific Community (Case Study of PhD Students at the University of Tehran).” PhD dissertation, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran (in Persian).
·       Marjaei, S.H. (2004). An Examination of Social Capital among University Students. Research Project. Tehran: Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education (in Persian).
·       Merton, R.K. (1942). Science and Technology in a Democratic Order. Journal of Legal and Political Sociology, 1, 115–126. Reprinted as ‘The normative structure of science’ in Merton, R.K. (1973) The Sociology of Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
·       Merton, R.K. (1968). The Matthew Effect in Science. Science, 159(3810), 56–63.
·       Mohammadi, Z., & Frasatkhah, M. (2018). “Intergenerational Transformation in the Academic Life of University Professors.” Social Studies and Research in Iran, 7(3), 413–439 (in Persian).
·       Mohseni Tabriz, A,; Ghazi Tabatabaei, M.; & Marjaei, S.H. (2011). Issues and Challenges to Socialization of Academic Norms in Scientific Communities in Iran. International Journal of Social Sciences (IJSS), 1(2), 159–167.
·       Mohseni Tabrizi, A. (2002). “Pathology of Social-Cultural Alienation: An Examination of Value Isolation in Public Universities in Tehran.” Higher Education Research and Planning Quarterly, 4(26), 119–182 (in Persian).
·       Paya, A., & Ghanei Rād, M.A. (2016). Habermas and Iranian Intellectuals. Tehran: Tarh-e Naqd (in Persian).
·       Peacock, V. (2016). "Academic Precarity as Hierarchical Dependence in the Max Planck Society." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 6(1), 95–119.
·       Polanyi, M. (1941). The Growth of Thought in Society. Economica, 8(32), 428–456.
·       Polanyi, M. (1951). The Logic of Liberty. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
·       Polanyi, M. (1962). The Republic of Science: Its Political and Economic Theory. Minerva, 1(1), 54–73.
·       Popper, K. (1992). “Freedom and the Theory of the Three Worlds,” translated by Ahmad Naqavi. Keyhan Monthly, no. 9, pp. 2–9 (in Persian).
·       Rabbani, R.; Rabbani, A.; & Maher, Z. (2012). “Providing a Sociological Model to Increase Scientific Production in Scientific Communities (Case Study of the University of Isfahan).” Iranian Higher Education Quarterly, 4(14), 65–98 (in Persian).
·       Rafi’pour, F. (2002). Obstacles to Scientific Growth in Iran and Their Solutions. Tehran: Sherkat Sahami Entešār (in Persian).
·       Salehi, S.; & Ebrahimi, G. (1999). “An Examination of the Factors Affecting the Research Activity of Faculty Members: A Study of Mazandaran University.” Social Sciences Letter. 14, 107-138 (in Persian).
·       Shahrapour, M.; Azad Eramaki, T.; & Salehi, S. (2001). “The Global Trend of Sociology: An Analysis of the Scientific Community.” Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(3), 117–146 (in Persian).
·       Shils, E. (1954). The Scientific Community: Thoughts After Hamburg. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 10(5), 151–155.
·       Southall, A. (1996). The Illusion of Tribe. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 31(1–2), 1–19.
·       Spencer, D.C., & Walby, K. (2013). Neo-tribalism, Epistemic Cultures, and the Emotions of Scientific Knowledge Construction. Emotion, Space and Society, 7, 54–61.
·       Talebi, A. (2015). “Understanding Tolerance in the Scientific Community of the Social Sciences.” Cultural and Communication Studies, 40, 85–114 (in Persian).
·       Trowler, P.; Saunders, M.; & Bamber, V. (eds.). (2012). Tribes and Territories in the 21st Century: Rethinking the Significance of Disciplines in Higher Education. London: Routledge.
Iranian Journal Of Antheropology
Volume 22, Issue 41
February 2026
Pages 233-256