Joan Mencher papers
name: label: Creator
content: Mencher, Joan P., 1930-
place: label: Place
content: South Asia
label: Place
content: Kerala (India)
label: Place
content: Tamil Nadu
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Joan Mencher.
creator: label: Creator
content: Mencher, Joan P., 1930-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Joan Mencher papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection contains the professional papers of anthropologist Joan Mencher. The files from her extensive career as a field researcher make up the majority of the collection. These materials include field notes, diaries, charts, tables, maps, interviews, questionnaires, scholarly papers and publications of other scholars, genealogical charts, sets of analyzed data, computer printouts, and digital files. The collection also contains copies of most of Mencher's published writings.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Joan Mencher is an anthropologist best known for her extensive field research in southern India. She earned her BA in physics and math from Smith College in 1950 and then went on to Columbia University to study anthropology. She received her PhD in 1958.

Mencher began her field research in India in 1958. She received a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research on child rearing and family life in the south Indian state of Kerala. This was the first trip of many Mencher would take to India over the next 50 years. Her primary areas of research include agricultural development, land ownership, rural housing, gender roles, and family planning. Most of Mencher's research took place in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, two south Indian states. She also spent some time in the state of West Bengal. She often conducted multiple research projects at once, taking the opportunity to interview her informants on a variety of topics in one session. This resulted in a very comprehensive look at rural Indian life over the course of several decades. Mencher has published her findings in numerous books and articles.

In addition to her active research pursuits, Mencher taught at several universities. She taught anthropology at Hofstra College from 1960-1961, at Cornell University from 1964-1965, and at Columbia, her alma mater, from 1967-1968. Her longest teaching position was at CUNY where she taught at both Lehman College and the Graduate Center. Her tenure there was from 1967-2004.

In the early 2000s Mencher founded The Second Chance Foundation, a non-profit that works to support rural grass-roots organizations that work with poor and small farmers in India and the United States on issues of sustainable agriculture. She runs the day-to-day operations of the organization, writes grant proposals, leads fundraising efforts to support small farmers in India, and makes public presentations about sustainable agriculture.

Sources Consulted:

Cambridge Who's Who. 2007. Joan P. Mencher's Biography. http://www.cambridgewhoswho.com/Members/NY/Joan-Mencher-1035277.html, accessed December 2, 2011.

Mencher, Joan. 1974. The Caste System Upside Down, or the Not-so-Mysterious East. Current Anthropology 15(4):469-493.

Sayeed, Vikhar Ahmed. 2009. Interview: The Right to Food. Frontline 26(26). http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2626/stories/20100101262608900.htm, accessed December 2, 2011.

Chronology

1930 -- Born

1950 -- Earned BA in Physics and Math from Smith College

1958 -- Earned PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University

1958-1960 -- Field work in South India. Received a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research on child rearing and family life in Kerala.

1960-1961 -- Taught anthropology at Hofstra College

1962-1963 -- Worked in South India. Looked at ecological issues and the differences between Tamil Nadu and Kerala and looked at how changes in ecology affected agriculture and social life

1963 -- Conducted a study of land, agriculture, power and conflict in Tamil Nadu

1964-1965 -- Taught anthropology at Cornell University

1966-1967 -- Returned to Tamil Nadu

1967-1968 -- Taught anthropology at Columbia University

1967-1969 -- Conducted field research in South India

1967-2004 -- Taught at Lehman College and the Graduate Center at CUNY

1970 -- Engaged in a research project under the auspices of Columbia University and the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture, financed by the National Science Foundation. The study dealt with the relationship between social structure and modernization, focusing on problems of family planning, agricultural development and rural housing

1974 -- Was a co-principal investigator, with Conrad Arensberg and K. R. Unni, on a comparative study in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

1975-1977 -- Conducted a study with Dr. P. G. K. Panikar on the socio-economics of rice cultivation in different parts of Kerala

1978-1980 -- Rockefeller Foundation Post-Doctoral Program

1979-1985 -- Conducted a comparative study of women in rice cultivation in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal

1984-1990 -- Conducted an in-depth study of the lives of over twenty women by collecting oral histories

1993-1995 -- Let the Women Talk, a two-part study of the effects of change both planned and unplanned in the south Indian villages studied in 1979-1982

2000s -- Founded the non-profit The Second Chance Foundation, which works to support rural grass-roots organizations that work with poor and small farmers in India and the United States on issues of sustainable agriculture

2002-2003 -- Received a pre-proposal grant from the City University of New York to explore interest and to develop a proposal to conduct a study of sustainable agricultural projects in southern India

Selected Bibliography

1962 -- Changing Familial Roles among South Malabar Nayars. Southwestern Journal of Anthroplogy 18(3):230-245.

1966 -- Kerala and Madras: A Comparative Study of Ecology and Social Structure. Ethnology 5(2):135-171. with André Béteille. Review of Caste, Class, and Power: Changing Powers of Stratification in a Tanjore Village. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 367:174-175.

1967 -- with Helen Goldberg. Kinship and Marriage Regulations among the Namboodiri Brahmans of Kerala. Man 2(1):87-106.

1970 -- Family Planning in India: The Role of Class Values. Family Planning Perspectives 2(2):35-39.

1974 -- Conflicts and Contradictions in the "Green Revolution": The Case of Tamil Nadu. Economic and Political Weekly 9(6/8): 309+311+313+315+317-319+321+323. The Caste System Upside Down, or the Not-so-Mysterious East. Current Anthropology 15(4):469-493.

1978 -- Agriculture and Social Structure in Tamil Nadu: Past Origins, Present Transformations and Future Prospects. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press. Why Grow More Food?: An Analysis of some Contradictions in the "Green Revolution" in Kerala. Economic and Political Weekly 13(51/52):A98-A99+A101-A104.

1982 -- with K. Saradamoni. Muddy Feet, Dirty Hands: Rice Production and Female Agricultural Labour. Economic and Political Weekly 17(52):A149-A153+A155-A167.

1997 -- with Judy Brink, eds. Mixed Blessings: Gender and Religious Fundamentalism Cross Culturally. New York: Routledge.

1999 -- NGOs: Are They a Force for Change? Economic and Political Weekly 34(30):2081-2086.

2001 -- The United States, India and GM Foods. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 15(1):31-33.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 42.5 Linear feet (104 document boxes, plus 3 oversize boxes, and 2 map drawers)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1920-2011
label: Date
content: bulk 1956-1993
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2011-08
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is organized into 7 series: 1) Kerala Field Research, 1956-2000; 2) Tamil Nadu Field Research, 1961-93; 3) West Bengal Field Research, 1963, 1979-84; 4) Writings, 1962-2011; 5) Computer Files, 1970-91; 6) Maps, 1920-22, 1959-65; 7) Photographs, 1958-1980
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers of Joan Mencher arrived at the archives organized into labeled record storage boxes, file card sized boxes, and poster tubes. The majority of the papers were in clearly labeled folders. Research materials were arranged by state and village. The processing archivist kept these existing groupings and organized the collection into six series. Original folder titles were retained. Folder titles assigned by the archivist are indicated by square brackets. Oversized materials were placed in oversize boxes. Rolled maps were removed from their original poster tubes and wrapped in acid free paper. Folded maps were unfolded and placed in oversize folders. Copies of Mencher's curriculum vitae have been added in the Appendix at the end of the finding aid. Her contact information was removed to protect her privacy. Restricted materials were removed and placed in separate manuscript boxes.

Processed by Christy Fic

Encoded by Jocelyn Baltz, June 2012
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection contains the professional papers of anthropologist Joan Mencher. The files from her extensive career as a field researcher make up the majority of the collection. These materials include field notes, diaries, charts, tables, maps, interviews, questionnaires, scholarly papers and publications of other scholars, genealogical charts, sets of analyzed data, computer printouts, and digital files. The collection also contains copies of most of Mencher's published writings.

The materials in this collection document Mencher's decades-long career as a scholar of Indian culture. The primary areas of research represented are agricultural development, family planning, the roles of men and women in the family and in the community, nutrition, housing, caste, and land ownership. Most of her work was conducted in the two south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with a brief interlude in the state of West Bengal.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.