The Pastoral Continuum: The Marginalization of Tradition in East Africa

by Paul Spencer

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198233756
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/23/1998
Series:	Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	1560L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of London

Table of Contents

IntroductionPART I: THE PASTORAL COMMITMENT AND THE LOGIC OF TRADITION1. Pastoralists and the Spirit of Enterprise2. Polygyny and the Manifestations of Inequality3. The Dynamics of Age Systems in East AfricaPART II: THE HISTORICAL CONTINUUM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PASTORALIST IDEALS4. The Chamus Tradition of Pre-Pastoral Origins5 The Thrust of Pastoral Innovations in Chamus.6. The Emergence of Individualism and New Forms of InequalityPART III: PASTORALISM AND THE THRUST OF CHANGE7. Population Growth, Development, and the Malthusian Dilemma8. Pastoralists and the Threshold of Change9. The Extension of the Continuum and the Spread of the DesertReferences. Index.IntroductionPART I: THE PASTORAL COMMITMENT AND THE LOGIC OF TRADITION1. Pastoralists and the Spirit of Enterprise2. Polygyny and the Manifestations of Inequality3. The Dynamics of Age Systems in East AfricaPART II: THE HISTORICAL CONTINUUM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PASTORALIST IDEALS4. The Chamus Tradition of Pre-Pastoral Origins5 The Thrust of Pastoral Innovations in Chamus.6. The Emergence of Individualism and New Forms of InequalityPART III: PASTORALISM AND THE THRUST OF CHANGE7. Population Growth, Development, and the Malthusian Dilemma8. Pastoralists and the Threshold of Change9. The Extension of the Continuum and the Spread of the DesertReferences. Index.