Books by Paul Spencer

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.

This study pioneered the relation of the dynamics of the Maasai age organization to 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. This analysis is illustrated with case material from the Matapato: a typical Maasai group.

The Samburu society of northern Kenya is a gerontocracy in which power rests with the older men. The tribe cling to their traditional way of life despite rapid changes throughout Africa. The author spent more than two years amongst the Samburu: he shows how their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social system that resists change.

In an era of rapid change for Africa, the Samburu 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. It contains case studies and was originally published in 1956.