Paul Spencer – författare

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. Pastoral peoples were once dominant in the East African interior, but development of the market economy has progressively polarized the region and forced them into the most marginal, drought-ridden areas; in this ecological trap they have become a peripheral underclass. The Pastoral Continuum examines the richness and resilience of their cultures and illuminates the role of indigenous practices and institutions in adaptation and survival. The pastoralists' systems of age organization in particular are notable for their resilience: it is demonstrated that these are bound up with problems of growth and succession in family enterprises, and that marriage is a critical link in the web of alliance that governs the problematic relations between old and young. Spencer's exploration of the development of the pastoralist phenomenon yields a unique view of its place in the modern world and its prospects for the future. This landmark work by a leading authority will be of lasting value to any reader interested in traditional social systems of this kind.

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.

First Published in 2004. Uncertainty is an aspect of existence among the Maasai in East Africa. They take ritual precautions against mystical misfortune, especially at their ceremonial gatherings, which exude displays of confidence, and generate a sense of time, space, community, and being. Yet their performances are undermined by a concern for clandestine psychopaths who are thought to create havoc through sorcery. Normally elders seek moral explanations for erratic encounters with misfortune, viewing God as the Supreme and unknowable figure of Providence. However, sorcery lies beyond their collective wisdom, and they look for guidance from their Prophet, as a more powerful sorcerer to whom they are bound for protection. This work examines the variation of this pattern, associated with different profiles of social life and tension across the Maasai federation.

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.

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. Uncertainty is an aspect of existence among the Maasai in East Africa. They take ritual precautions against mystical misfortune, especially at their ceremonial gatherings, which exude displays of confidence, and generate a sense of time, space, community, and being. Yet their performances are undermined by a concern for clandestine psychopaths who are thought to create havoc through sorcery. Normally elders seek moral explanations for erratic encounters with misfortune, viewing God as the Supreme and unknowable figure of Providence. However, sorcery lies beyond their collective wisdom, and they look for guidance from their Prophet, as a more powerful sorcerer to whom they are bound for protection. This work examines the variation of this pattern, associated with different profiles of social life and tension across the Maasai federation.

The Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe by Paul Spencer offers a rich ethnographic account of a pastoral society in northern Kenya whose political and social life is organized around the authority of elders. Closely related linguistically and culturally to the Masai, the Samburu nonetheless developed their own distinctive institutions, shaped by the arid ecology of their homeland and by crises such as the devastating rinderpest and smallpox epidemics of the late nineteenth century. Colonial intervention brought new layers of administration and, after World War II, experimental grazing schemes, yet Spencer demonstrates that Samburu society remained remarkably resilient. Elders continued to dominate decision-making, adjudicate disputes, and control marriage, while the age-set system maintained a strict separation between the power of the old and the obligations of the young. At the core of Samburu social values lies *nkanyit*—a nuanced concept of respect, shame, and duty—that governs relationships within the tribe and distinguishes the Samburu from their neighbors.Drawing on twenty-seven months of fieldwork from 1957 to 1960, Spencer provides a vivid portrait of Samburu gerontocracy in practice. He examines the tension between elder authority and the moran, the young unmarried men who, though stripped of their historic warrior role by colonial pacification, retained their distinctive dress, camps, and rituals, remaining integral to the society’s balance of power. Detailed case studies from Pardopa clan, supplemented with comparisons across other clans and neighboring groups, illuminate how polygyny, delayed marriage, and clan corporateness reinforce elder dominance while channeling youthful energies into culturally sanctioned roles. With attention to ceremony, women’s status, and the interplay between ecological adaptation and social institutions, Spencer situates the Samburu within broader East African pastoral dynamics. This study stands as a classic account of how age, authority, and tradition structure the life of a nomadic people navigating both colonial rule and enduring cultural continuity.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 Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe by Paul Spencer offers a rich ethnographic account of a pastoral society in northern Kenya whose political and social life is organized around the authority of elders. Closely related linguistically and culturally to the Masai, the Samburu nonetheless developed their own distinctive institutions, shaped by the arid ecology of their homeland and by crises such as the devastating rinderpest and smallpox epidemics of the late nineteenth century. Colonial intervention brought new layers of administration and, after World War II, experimental grazing schemes, yet Spencer demonstrates that Samburu society remained remarkably resilient. Elders continued to dominate decision-making, adjudicate disputes, and control marriage, while the age-set system maintained a strict separation between the power of the old and the obligations of the young. At the core of Samburu social values lies *nkanyit*—a nuanced concept of respect, shame, and duty—that governs relationships within the tribe and distinguishes the Samburu from their neighbors.Drawing on twenty-seven months of fieldwork from 1957 to 1960, Spencer provides a vivid portrait of Samburu gerontocracy in practice. He examines the tension between elder authority and the moran, the young unmarried men who, though stripped of their historic warrior role by colonial pacification, retained their distinctive dress, camps, and rituals, remaining integral to the society’s balance of power. Detailed case studies from Pardopa clan, supplemented with comparisons across other clans and neighboring groups, illuminate how polygyny, delayed marriage, and clan corporateness reinforce elder dominance while channeling youthful energies into culturally sanctioned roles. With attention to ceremony, women’s status, and the interplay between ecological adaptation and social institutions, Spencer situates the Samburu within broader East African pastoral dynamics. This study stands as a classic account of how age, authority, and tradition structure the life of a nomadic people navigating both colonial rule and enduring cultural continuity.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.

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.

Originally published in 1990, Anthropology and the Riddle of the Sphinx: Paradoxes of Change in the Life Course, seeks to relate the problems of maturation and ageing to the life course as a whole. As it is treated here, the riddle posed by the sphinx asks ‘What is it that changes as we age?’ and is concerned with the enigmas of this total process. Ultimately, the ways in which we experience these problems stem from our view of ageing and the contradictions of society itself.The essays in this volume consider aspects of this problem with reference to a variety of cultures. The young, the mature, and the elderly have distinctive identities, but they form a continuum whose profile is culturally constructed.Anthropology and the Riddle of the Sphinx: Paradoxes of Change in the Life Course is intended as a contribution to the growing literature on ageing, deliberately broadening the topic in the search for a wider understanding. This volume aims to stimulate interest in neglected aspects of the ageing process within social anthropology and to present an anthropological point of view to others who have an interest in problems associated with the life course. It will be of particular value to the students of social anthropology and medical sociology.It was originally published as part of the ASA Monographs series: https://www.routledge.com/ASA-Monographs/book-series/SE0127

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.

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.

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.

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.