Sally Engle Merry

Sally Engle Merry was the Julius Silver Professor of Anthropology at New York University, specializing in legal anthropology, human rights, and colonialism. She held leadership roles in professional organizations, including president of the Law and Society Association and the American Ethnological Society. Her research explored intersections of law, culture, and globalization, with a focus on gender violence and the impact of quantification on policy.

Education:

• B.A. in Anthropology, Wellesley College (1966)
• M.A. in Anthropology, Yale University (1967)
• Ph.D. in Anthropology, Brandeis University (1978)

Research Interests: Her work examined legal pluralism, vernacularization of human rights, and the cultural dimensions of law. Notable books include Human Rights and Gender Violence (2006) and The Seductions of Quantification (2016). She critiqued the overreliance on metrics in global governance and explored how local communities engage with international legal frameworks.

Grants & Awards: Recipient of 11 NSF grants and prestigious honors like the Franz Boas Award. Her work on gender violence and human rights reshaped scholarly and policy discourses.

Legacy: Mentor to over 20 graduate students, her contributions spanned academia and activism. A conference at NYU Law in 2019 celebrated her impact on legal anthropology and human rights studies.