with the same language, customs, and history, and often a recognized leader) stop following their traditional customs or social structure." Detribalization incorporates the word tribal, which has been recognized as an offensive and pejorative term when used in certain contexts. For this reason, detribalization is sometimes used in quotations when referring to the process being described as a signal to the reader of the term's potentially offensive subtext.

From its early uses to modern scholarship, detribalization has almost exclusively