In an era of rapid change for Africa, this nomadic tribe clings to its traditional way of life. This book examines their society, and provides the first full published description of human life in the area. The author, a social anthropologist, spent more than two years among the Samburu; as an adopted member of one of their clans, he perceived how their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social system that resists change. Case studies support the general analysis throughout. Originally published in 1965.

When first published in 1988, this classic study was the first to relate the dynamics of the Maasai age organisation to the tensions within the family. Together, these provide the twin strands of a man's career and, opposed ritually, reflecting a fundamental ambivalence in Maasai thought. The analysis is illustrated with extensive case material from the the Matapato, selected for this study as a typical Maasai group.

The Maa of East Africa are a cluster of related pastoral peoples who share a social organization based on age. This groups men into life-long cohorts from their initiation in youth, regardless of family wealth. Historically, this type of pre-market society has been described in every continent, but East Africa provides the principal surviving region of age-based societies, among whom the Maasai are the best known. In this volume, comparison between three branches of Maa highlights different aspects of their society: the dynamics of power with age and gender among the Maasai, of ritual performance and belief among the Samburu, and of historical change among the Chamus. Here it is argued that understanding another culture can only be approached through models derived in the first instance from the representations conveyed by members of that culture. The social anthropologist may then elaborate these images through the choice of analytical parallels, even extending to other disciplines and personal experience. Each chapter in this volume views Maa institutions through a different lens, exploring models relevant to a comprehensive analysis of their social life.

In an era of rapid change for Africa, this nomadic tribe clings to its traditional way of life. This book examines their society, and provides the first full published description of human life in the area. The author, a social anthropologist, spent more than two years among the Samburu; as an adopted member of one of their clans, he perceived how their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social system that resists change. Case studies support the general analysis throughout. Originally published in 1965.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Samburu society is a gerontocracy in which power rests with the older men; men under thirty may not marry or otherwise assert their personal independence. This nomadic tribe from the arid regions of northern Kenya cling to their traditional way of life despite the rapid change throughout Africa. The author spent more than two years during the 1960's amongst the Samburu, and as an adopted member of one of their clans, he perceived how their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social system that resists change.

When first published in 1988, this classic study was the first to relate the dynamics of the Maasai age organisation to the tensions within the family. Together, these provide the twin strands of a man's career, opposed ritually and reflecting a fundamental ambivalence in Maasai thought. The analysis is illustrated with extensive case material from the the Matapato, selected for this study as a typical Maasai group.

Paul Spencer presents the definitive study of the ways of life of the cattle-herding peoples of East Africa, drawing on many years of research. This region has offered a prime example of a traditional culture resisting the inevitability of change; it provides the best-known and most extensive instance both of cattle-pastoralist society and of social organization based primarily on age. The Pastoral Continuum examines the richness and resilience of the culture of these peoples, illuminates the role of indigenous practices and institutions in adaptation and survival, and offers a unique view of the place of pastoralism in the modern world and its prospects for the future.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1965.

The Care Standards Act 2000 came into force in April 2002 and provides for the administration of a variety of care institutions, including children's homes, independent hospitals, nursing and residential care homes.This Act replaces the Registered Homes Act 1984 and those parts of the Childrens Act 1989 which are relevant to the care or the accommodation of children. It is a major piece of legislation which seeks to substantially reform the law relating to the inspection and regulation of homes. This book provides an in-depth guide to the new framework and offers advice on the practical and procedural effects. It also covers judicial review procedures and the potential human rights implications of the new Act.

Dancing has its place in all societies; yet the phenomenon of dance has been oddly neglected by most anthropologists. This volume is intended to further anthropological awareness of its critical relevance. It is claimed that, in a very important sense, society creates the dance, and it is to society and not just to the dancer's experience that we must turn to understand its significance. Performance has meaning within social process. The anthropological analysis of dance can be approached in a variety of ways. These are identified in the introduction to the volume, and then illustrated by seven case examples drawn from Africa, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Oceanis. In successive chapters, dancing is presented as a controlled emotional outlet whose form reflects cosmology; as a creative experience that draws adolescent girls into the adult world; as an extension of speech and gesture that adds further levels of meaning to formal occasions; as a strategy for orchestrating the climax of a successful exchange; as a challenge to the power of elders that generates an alternative reality; as a communial response to crisis that recreates order out of confusion; and as a sequence of transformations that periodically resolves an inherent social dilemma. The volume concludes with an assessment of the relevance of the work by a dance scholar. By revealing dance as an aspect - often the most spectacular aspect - of ritual behaviour, this work is intended to stimulate more anthropologists and those in related disciplines to realise the full potential of its study. It also offers insights to those who are principally interested in dance itself, as well as appealing to any reader who shares a curiosity about the ways in which the spectacle of dance can be interpreted.

Campfire conversations with Alfred Russel Wallace on people and nature based on his travel in the Malay archipelago: the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise. Part travelogue, part biography, this book charts the discoveries of the famous naturalist/explorer Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913). Born in 1823, Wallace devoted much of his time to fieldwork, first in the Amazon and then in Asia. During his travels he identified what is now known as the Wallace Line, which divides the flora and fauna of Asia from that which was hitherto a combination of both Australian and Asian origin. He is, of course, notable for independently developing the theory of evolution due to natural selection (but was perhaps deliberately sidelined by Darwin). He was a voracious collector - he trapped, skinned, and pickled 125,660 specimens, including 212 new species of birds and 900 new species of beetles during his long and productive life.