# Annette Weiner

Annette Barbara Weiner née Cohen (February 14, 1933 – 7 December 1997) was one of the most prominent American cultural anthropologists, earning recognition as the President of the American Anthropological Association (1991–1993), Presidents of the Society for Cultural Anthropology (1987–1989), Chair of Anthropology (1981–1991). She also served as a Dean of Social Science (1993–1996), and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science (1991–1996) at New York University. Early in her career, she taught at the University of Texas, Austin, and at Franklin and Marshall College. She held the David B. Kriser Distinguished Professorship in Anthropology from 1984 until her death in 1997. She was known for her ethnographic work in the Trobriand Islands and her development of the concept of inalienable wealth in social anthropological theory.

## Life

Annette B. Cohen was born on February 14, 1933, in Philadelphia. She embarked on her academic career later in life, following an initial career in business. Dr. Weiner's first two marriages ended in divorce, and she was later married to Dr. William E. Mitchell, a retired anthropology professor from the University of Vermont. She was the sister of three brothers and the mother of two children from her first marriage, as well as a stepmother to two children. Her family extended to include eight grandchildren.

## Education and career

Annette Weiner earned her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 and completed her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr College in 1974. While at Bryn Mawr, she studied under prominent anthropologists Jane C. Goodale and Frederica de Laguna. Weiner conducted extensive fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands, producing rich ethnographic accounts and analyses that stand as her most enduring contributions to the field.
Her dissertation studied the contribution of women to the economy of Trobriand society, which had been the site of Bronislaw Malinowski's renowned studies of the Kula exchange. She demonstrated that women's contributions were highly significant but largely erased from record because the cultural focus was on the distribution and exchange of valuables rather than its production. The dissertation was published in 1976 by University of Texas Press under the title: Women of Value, Men of Renown: New Perspectives in Trobriand Exchange. It received intense attention and became a highly influential piece of feminist anthropology. In 1992 she published the book Inalienable Possessions: The paradox of keeping-while-giving at the University of California Press, in which she built on work by Marcel Mauss and Malinowski to present a theory of value and exchange in which there is a basic distinction between alienable and inalienable forms of wealth. Inalienable wealth is a kind of possession that is inalienably tied to its original possessor and which if given away retains some part of them, such wealth has the power to create lasting social divisions.

## Early graduate research and shift to cultural anthropology

During her early graduate studies, Annette Weiner participated in several archaeological expeditions to Guatemala, where she focused on cataloging potsherds recovered from excavation sites. These fragments provided insights into past social dynamics but left unanswered questions about the practical and cultural contexts of their use. The repetitive nature of lab work, combined with the lack of direct cultural connection, motivated her to seek alternative approaches.
In nearby villages, she observed local "Indian" (indigenous) women selecting cooking pots at markets, guided by extensive knowledge about their design and functionality. These pots, resembling the fragmented artifacts from the excavations, offered a tangible link between material culture and human practices. Her observations highlighted the significance of living traditions in understanding the use and meaning of everyday objects.
This experience led to a shift in her academic focus from archaeology to cultural anthropology. She recognized the value of ethnographic methods in complementing archaeological studies, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of material culture. Ethnography enabled her to explore the human contexts behind artifacts, emphasizing the dynamic relationship between people and the material world.
Her transition to cultural anthropology marked a turning point in her career, as she began to address broader questions about the cultural and symbolic roles of objects within human societies. This interdisciplinary approach underscored the importance of integrating ethnographic research with material culture studies to provide deeper insights into both historical and contemporary practices.

## Work and achievements

A Guggenheim Fellow, she was also a founding member and president of the Society for Cultural Anthropology and president of the American Anthropological Association whose Distinguished Service Award she received in 1997. In her final presidential address to the AAA, "Culture and Our Discontents," Weiner argued that "a commitment to a global comparative perspective can provide an innovative postmodern frame" for the discipline.

## Publications

* Women of Value, Men of Renown: New Perspectives in Trobriand Exchange, 1976
* The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea, 1987
* Cloth and human experience, 1989
* Inalienable possessions : the paradox of keeping-while-giving, 1992