SAMUEL R THOMAS

SHIFTING MEANINGS OF TIME, PRODUCTIVITY AND SOCIAL WORTH IN THE LIFE COURSE IN MERU, KENYA

ABSTRACT. Formal 'age sets' and 'age grades' no longer function as integral components of social organization among the Meru of Mt. Kenya. Three analytic perspectives historical time, life time, and social time - reveal the changes in the life course which accompany the decline of age set social organization in Meru. These changes include: (1) an increasingly flexible and informal age grade structure for both men and women and (2) a fundamental shift in the meanings of time and social worth. In the past, the life course was conceptually organized around age-graded variations in reciprocal kinship interactions. Today, age-related abilities to produce and reproduce provide the underlying conceptual anchor. KEY WORDS: Life course, Age sets, Time, Power, Gender, Kenya, Africa

INTRODUCTION 'A he-goat is not born with his scent'. In an age-organized society like Meru which once explicitly used age to distribute roles, power, and resources, proverbs taught the value of patience. Just as a 'he-goat' gained his distinctive pheromones only at biological maturity, men and women received desirable roles at socially prescribed ages. Waiting responsibly for rewards brought by the passage of time thus represented an important theme in the life course. In this article, I compare the life course as revealed in Meru oral history with the life course in contemporary Meru as it emerges in my own ethnographic study. The life course and ethnography o f aging

Fry and Keith (1982), Kertzer and Keith (1984), and Fry (1990) emphasize the salience of the life course in the anthropology of aging. The life course furnishes a useful heuristic perspective from which to approach anthropological gerontology, regardless of theory. Apart from Sangree (1989), Stucki (1992), and Cattell (1989, 1990, 1994), however, few gerontologists writing about Africa embrace the life course concept extensively. Most African gerontology concentrates on survival issues such as changing support systems (Khasiani 1987; Hampson 1985; Peil, Bamisaye and Ekpenyong 1989), residence patterns (Dorjahn 1989), and the status and treatment of the elderly (Glascock 1986; Guillette 1990). In contrast, this article specifically highlights the life course. Studies of the life course analyze changes in the lives of individuals as they move through time within specific contexts. Much of the meaning permeating the life course springs from cultural images of temporality (see Fry 1990.) For example, in our own society where time moves in a linear and irreversible stream, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 10: 233-256, 1995. 9 1995 KluwerAcademic Publishers. Printed in tile Netherlands.

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youth is coveted, middle age is often dominated by existential anxiety, and old age becomes either a celebration of past achievements or a season of regret for lost opportunity. Neugarten proposes three ways of conceptualizing the passage of individuals and cohorts through time: "historical time", the ecological, social, political, or economic events which shape the background in which a person lives; "life time", individual chronological age and physiological maturation; and "social time", the culturally defined age grades and norms which allocate social roles to people of different life stages (Neugarten and Datan 1973: 54). I examine the applicability of each concept of time to the Meru life course. Finally, the life course supplies a useful mechanism for comparative research. The effectiveness of the life course in cross-cultural comparisons surfaces vividly in the Project AGE research (Ikels, Keith, Dickerson-Putman, Draper, Fry, Glascock, and Harpending 1992) which contrasts the life course in seven societies. I employ the life course in a historical comparison using oral history and recent ethnographic data. The life course does not, on the other hand, confront major issues of causality and epistemology. I adopt ecological systems theory as a conceptual paradigm. Ecological systems theory examines human behavior from a holistic environmental, physiological, and cultural perspective, an emphasis that harmonizes well with life course research. Moreover, this model frames old age in a positive light. The post-reproductive stage of life emerges as an evolved behavioral adaptation important to human survival; the elderly themselves are viewed as actively adapting individuals, not the passive victims of social change.

Age-organized societies One distinctive aspect of Meru society relates directly to aging and the life course. Cultural concepts of time and age function as pivotal components of Meru social organization. Age-organized societies like Meru assign individuals to formally ordered cohorts using social age or generation. In Meru, these cohorts, termed 'age sets', consist of those initiated together. Members of each cohort proceed through the stages of the life course, or 'age grades', more or less collectively. Cultural norms ascribe roles and resources to each age grade. Anthropological interest in age organization surfaces in Lowie's (1920) analysis of social associations not based on kinship. Radcliffe-Brown 41929) distinguished 'age sets' from 'age grades'. Prins (1953) further clarified the formal elements of age-organized societies in his comparison of three East African cultures. Evans-Pritchard (1940) analyzed age sets as a component of the Nuer political system. Eisenstadt's (1956) sociological analysis looked at how societies use age to allocate social roles. Drawing upon ethnographic examples, Stewart (1977) developed an analytic model of age organization. Ethnographies of age-organized societies include the Kipsigis (Peristiany 1939), Karimojong (Dyson-Hudson 1963), Samburu (Spencer 1965), Boran (Baxter 1978; Legesse 1973), and Nyakyusa (Wilson 1951), all from East Africa. Pauline (1971) and

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Maybury-Lewis (1967) describe age-graded societies in West Africa and Brazil, respectively. Since age set societies represent an extreme polarity in the social use of age, they provide a distinctive point of cross-cultural comparison. Important life course concepts such as cohorts, age grades, and the 'social clock' emerge in bold relief. Social stratification on the basis of age is explicit; unequal access to power and resources by people of different ages is overt. Indeed, age set societies inspired at least one influential life course perspective (Neugarten, Moore, and Lowie 1965). Given this interrelationship between life course research and formal age organization, a revisit to the life course of an age set society should be informative. Furthermore, this article sheds light on the way declining age organization touches the lives of individuals. RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY Research for this article was conducted over a period of 20 months from 1989 to 1991 in three agricultural communities in southern Meru District, Kenya. A household census numbered 4,648 people living in these communities (Table I). Although variations in culture and in adaptation to change exist among Meru sub-groups, the research population is generally representative of Meru as a whole. Numbering well over one million, the Meru share close cultural ties with their neighbors, the Embu and the populous Kikuyu. Together, these groups accounted for 28% of the population of Kenya in the 1979 census (Republic of Kenya 1991). TABLE 1 Population distribution Age

Male

Female

Sub-total

Percentage

0-14 15-24 25-34 35 -44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+

1,052 456 284 191 102 59 74 16 13

1,083 527 295 163 117 92 66 29 29

2,135 983 579 354 219 151 140 45 42

45.9 21.1 12.5 7.6 4.7 3.3 3.0 1.0 0.9

Total

2,247

2,401

4,648

100.0

In addition to .a household census and participant observation, research included interviews with samples from two separate populations: (1) adults aged 25 to 54 and (2) older adults over 55, the official male retirement age in Kenya. I interviewed 131 out of 1,145 younger adults and 131 of 377 elderly. Elders' chrono-

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logical age was calculated from age set membership and informants' memories of historical events. Samples were randomly chosen and stratified by age and sex. HISTORICAL TIME AND THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT

This discussion of historical time paints in broad strokes the events that shaped the sociocultural setting in southern Mere. Geographically, the people of Mere occupy a ragged expanse of fertile mountain ridges on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya. Ethnically, the Mere consist of a collection of related clans, mostly Bantu, who migrated here, probably from the East African coast, in the 1700s. These clans speak mutually intelligible dialects of a common language and have similar lifeways. Life on the mountain ridges of southern Mem moves slowly and breathes with the cycle of nature; two rainy seasons, one beginning in March, the other in October, govern the rhythms of social and economic activity. Apart from a scattering of shopkeepers, teachers, and government officials, nearly everyone farms, men and women alike. Originally, the Meru cultivated food crops and herded a few cattle, sheep, and goats; these activities met their essential needs without extensive outside trade. Practically all families now plant much of their acreage in cash crops like tea and coffee. Farmers sell these commodities to pay school fees and purchase staples and consumer goods. Small family farms of three to five acres dot the hillsides and ridgetops. Clusters of small huts and houses nest in habitable comers of each homestead. Most often, extended families of three or more generations live side by side. A few small market villages mingle with the farms. In the past, patrilineal clans organized social and political life within ridgetop farming communities. Age sets cut across localized clan groups, facilitating multi-community cooperation during crises and distributing power and resources within the clan. Community leadership came from clan elders who served on administrative and judicial councils. Social life and harmony rested on respect for seniority, including veneration of ancestral spirits. Close to nature and physically bounded by numerous ravines, these fanning communities continue to radiate an aura of timeless isolation. But, appearances of seclusion are misleading. British soldiers and administrators arrived in the early 1900s during a time when epidemic and drought had weaken indigenous institutions. Today, the economic and ideological tentacles of western political economy touch almost every facet of life. Ubiquitous primary and secondary schools mold the minds of Meru youth. Processing facilities for tea and coffee, visible reminders of international markets, penetrate every ridge. Village stores merchandise sugar, flour, and other enculturated necessities. The nearby regional town of Chuka distributes an even wider selection of manufactured goods, provides banking and other public services, and acts as the seat of local government. A new paved road completed in 1984 links farms, markets, and people to urban centers and the outside world even more tightly.

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Understandably, this interface with the world beyond the ridges has transformed social life, including the age set system and life course. So far, families and kin groups remain relatively close-knit. Adherence to traditional values persists - at least as a cultural ideal. On the other hand, appointed officials govern in place of elders' councils. Youth increasingly abandon the ridges for jobs elsewhere. Succumbing to decades of subtle pressure, extended families have begun the painful process of nucleation. Thus, the passing of historical time, especially contact with the Western world at a time of ecological stress, profoundly altered the social, political, and economic context in Meru. As this context evolved, the life course changed as well. Historical time events have eroded the importance of age norms and age grades. The southern Mern no longer formally organize age cohorts; the last named age set formed in the 1960s (Thomas 1992: 163). Even the cornerstone rite of initiation is abbreviated and individualized, often consisting of little more than a hospital circumcision during school vacation. In short, age organization in Meru has not survived intimate contact with the western political economy. As is true in many other settings (Bernardi 1985), the diffusion of cash crops, market-based economy, western health care, formal education, and Christian beliefs has fundamentally altered the life course in Meru. I discuss effects of these changes on life time and social time below.

LIFE TIMEIN MERU Western societies rely heavily on chronological age to measure individual maturation. Chronology also colors our valuations of personal worth. In Meru, chronological age held little meaning until recently. In the past, the Meru marked life time with the age grades of the age set system. Knowing a person's 'age' meant knowing the name of their age set. Government-sponsored social security and mandatory retirement ages revised temporal reality for younger Meru age groups, at least for those in civil service and formal economic sector jobs. For them, chronological age impacts their participation in the larger economy, and consequently their productivity and social value, just as it does in industrialized countries. Nevertheless, the use of chronological age remains a superficial veneer on the youthful surfaces of Meru society. The shallow meanings of chronology, particularly for middle-aged and elderly, become evident as we look further into the way the Meru conceptualize individual maturation. For instance, I asked young and middle-aged informants what characteristics set elderly age grades apart (Table II). Their responses reveal much about contemporary life time concepts. Several (23.3%) said age sets can still be used to identify" elderly, as long as a person knows the names and order of age sets. Most youth and many middleaged, however, freely admit they do not possess this knowledge. Moreover, since current generations do not join formal age sets, set names are not useful for younger age groups. This finding suggests that age sets marked individual maturation in the past. It also confirms their present disuse.

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TABLE II Markers of old age Characteristics of old age

Number of respondents

Percent of respondents a

Appearance Activity level Physical vitality Age set Values and orientation Generation Personal habits Mental acuity

97 83 67 30 29 23 16 13

75.2 64.3 51.9 23.3 22.5 17.8 12.4 10.1

Total number of respondents

129

N/A

aSince the interview question that generated this data was open-ended, respondents usually mentioned more than one trait. The relative weight of percentages should be understood in this light. A small number of informants (17.8%) use generation, another social attribute. These respondents categorize people by the number and maturational stage of their offspring. Though not reported in Table II, 44% of informants use some variation of the generational term, cucu (grandparent), to distinguish age groups. The full range of these terms are: baba/maitu (father/mother), cucu (grandparent), cuncuri (great-grandparent), and cuncuririria (great-great grandparent). These terms remain useful since they denote reproductive status and social position within the family. With the atrophy of age sets, the Mere now give greater attention to physiological aging and attendant reductions in economic and domestic productivity. Almost 52% of respondents associate old age with declining functional ability. Informants referred specifically to poor mobility (walking slowly, for short distances, bent over, or with the aid of sticks), weak speech, poor eyesight, and inability to eat regular food due to loss of teeth. A few people, about 10%, included loss of mental acuity, saying old people sometimes become childish and forgetful. A related concern, declining labor output, was mentioned by 64.3%. Old people work more slowly and can no longer do strenuous chores such as carrying heavy loads, digging or tilling the land, and grinding grain for gruel. One middle-aged woman said: "For myself, an old person is someone who can't work because of old age. Some people look old, but are still strong enough to work. I don't think of them as old". "As long as they can provide for themselves, I don't think of them as old", reported one young man. Since reproduction directly affects productivity in a labor intensive economy, I expected the Meru to emphasize cessation of reproduction as a characteristic of older female age grades. Yet, only two respondents mentioned menopause without prompting; as a result, menopause is not included in Table II. When we asked specifically about menopause, however, 50% agreed that it is an important

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239

component of female aging; only 13% saw menopause as irrelevant. Interestingly, according to Meru tradition, cessation of child-bearing was a social, not a physiological, event; women stopped bearing children at the circumcision of their first-born. (See du Toit 1984.) Perhaps this custom explains why informants did not initially associate old age with physiological menopause. A large majority (75.2%) use appearance to decide who is old. At first glance, this finding suggests that appearance functions as a quick estimate of productive usefulness; many informants described the elderly as frail and bent, with grey hair and wrinkled skin. On the other hand, appearance includes components which relate more to changing customs than to physiology. For example, older Meruians often have pierced, elongated earlobes. Other responses tied to changing customs include temporal values and orientation (22.5%) and personal habits (12.4%). Some informants complained that elderly over-emphasize tradition and show little concern for future economic success. Regarding habits, eiders speak freely, even using abusive words when upset. They also speak indirectly, employing proverbs that youth don't understand. Moreover, they are less concerned with cleanliness, and they often wear tattered clothing. The pejorative nature of these impressions suggests that informants associate aging with diminished social worth. This fledgling ageism depm'ts markedly from the high respect formerly accorded to the elderly. To summarize, the main attributes currently distinguishing older age grades in Meru are deteriorating physiological vigor and declining productive capability. Appearance and habits may serve as outward indications of these factors. Noticeably absent is the extensive reliance upon age sets. The explanation for the demise of age sets lies, I believe, in the current irrelevance of age sets to social viability and ecological survival. Apart from regulating decision-making power, age norms once controlled access to land, the means of production, and to marriage, the means of reproduction. As long as age norms governed the distribution of rights and resources, age set membership was essential to social and economic success. Now, with more diffuse avenues to resources and rights within the ecological system, age sets have lost importance. Physical vitality, i.e., the ability to work or to produce children who work, now largely determines a person's productivity and social worth. Significant social and psychological losses accompanied the slow death of age organization. A generation of elders who lived their lives believing that 'a hegoat is not born with his scent' found an old age shorn of many anticipated rewards. Fadiman (1993) records the bitterness and confusion felt by the men of the oldest age sets in 1969-70. Custom defined their most critical role as transmitting oral traditions to young men. But the youth, more interested in formal education, thwarted this sacred duty. The companionship and gifts of tobacco and meat which customarily accompanied the young men's visits never came either. Now, twenty years later, elders appear resigned to these losses. Most elders in my sample (67% of men and 77% of women) listed providing for their families as their most important function. Thirty-two percent of women

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still share stories with grandchildren; 7% of men recite oral history on occasion. However, only 3% of the women and no men saw these activities as their most vital contribution.

OLD SOCIALTIMEIN MERU All time is socially constructed (Lauer 1981). The distinctiveness of social time rests in its focus upon "the movement of social phenomena in terms of other social phenomena taken as points of reference" (Sorokin and Merton 1937:618). Social time grows out of the biological and ecological regularities of human life. For example, in Meru, area-wide initiations of new age sets and the co-occurring promotion of existing sets into higher age grades lay at the heart of social time. Ideally, these transitions came every 12 to 14 years; but, actual timing depended upon the number of maturing youth and the overall stability of the ecological system. In most societies, organizational use of these collective rhythms is loose, informal, individualized, and subordinated to other sociocultural institutions. In Meru, however, social time and its derivative, social age, once served as a formal mechanism of social organization. For descriptive data about social time in Meru historical tradition, I rely heavily on the oral history research of Fadiman (1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1993) and, to a lesser degree, Mwaniki (1982). Kinship and meaning in the life course Social and economic life in Mern was embedded in reciprocal patrilineal clan relationships. The way individuals participated in kinship interactions changed as they proceeded through the stages of life; these age-related variations provide a meaningful conceptual division for the life course (Figures 1 and 2). The age set system overlapped kinship relations and structured the distribution of power and resources among different age grades. Age-organized kinship behavior rested on time-worn precedent. The Mern believed the nkoma ba juju, or 'spirits of the grandparents', served as all-seeing guardians over this body of evolved cultural tradition. Nkoma punished violations of custom with sickness or death and rewarded conformity with good fortune. Although people who died young or childless soon faded from memory, families honored deceased grandparents with burial in the family compound and remembered them with daily libations (Chege 1985). Remaining true to this ideology, I recognize nkoma as the 'deceased participatory clan' stage of the life course. During childhood, the 'potential clan' phase, girls and boys learned reciprocal kinship responsibilities. Socialization focused especially on learning respect for seniors, a value sternly instilled from an early age. For both sexes, full incorporation into the kinship group began only with a post-pubertal rite of passage centered upon circumcision. The spilling of circumcision blood united a boy or girl with their nkoma and allowed them to enter fully into social and reproductive life.

SHIFTINGMEANINGSOFTHELIFECOURSEINKENYA LIVINGPARTICIPATORYCLAN Next Transition ( A ~ / \ Next Transition//" Ritual \

Death[ ~

+

Initiationof Firstborn )

~. J--Y I \ Marriage =a.r / N_.oyice N~-(Age30)

~

] Initiation ~Unc / (Age 15 t~ 25, ircumcised (Sph'i_tsof the X / POTENTIAL Grandparents) X CLAN

\

DECEASED~ PARTICIPATORY~ CLAN

/ k//

/2~irt h ....

~

Fig. 1.

The old male life course

LWING PARTICIPATORYCLAN Age Grade

Transition ~ t I

Age Grade ~ Transition /

I

Initiation of ~ . First born /~

.........

\

ama e

Nkomaba !uju (Spiritsof me ~ Grandparents) DECEASEDN PARTICIPATORY"",,,~ CLAN ~ \

Fig. 2.

X Uncircumcised/ X / POTENTIAL X / CLAN X/ ~"~irth ....

The old female life course

241

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SAMUELR THOMAS

Male age grades Circumcision thus served as a symbolic portal into the reciprocal world of clan social, reproductive, and economic activities. The mingling of circumcision blood also bonded initiates together as age mates in a formal named age set. These social divisions constituted the primary units of the age set system. After initiation, age grades for male age sets followed the pattern presented in Table III. TABLE III Male age grades Age

Life stage

Termination event

18-29+ 29-40+ 40-51+ 51-62+ 62?

Junior/senior warrior Novice elder~ Ruling elder Ritual elder The aged

Marriage Age grade transition (Near initiation of eldest son) Age grade transition Age grade transition (Near circumcision of last born) Death

Source: Fadiman 1982: 149. a The Meru term mukuru is roughly glossed here as 'elder'. The term connotes responsible and settled adulthood, not old age. Participation in adult community life was closely tied to age set membership. For the most part, a man moved though life with his institutionalized cohort. When a person's age set ascended to the next age grade, he moved with them. Yet the system did contain flexibility. For instance, a man might marry earlier than his age-mates and begin performing novice elder roles sooner. Even so, his primary social identity remained with his age set. Meru age grades found concrete expression in democratic institutions called biama (sl. kiama), or councils. Every age grade, except for novice elderhood, had its own council to police its members and carry out ascribed age grade functions. Virtually all males participated in local community/clan biama. Those particularly adept at mediation and argumentation also served as agambi (sl. rnugambi), or spokesmen. Especially well known and effective agambi represented their clans in special area-wide councils which met to deliberate matters of regional consequence.

Male age norms: Ascription of roles and power Ascribing roles to age grades in accordance with age norms is a fundamental aspect of social time (Neugarten, Moore, and Lowe 1965). In societies without centralized governance, this ascription of social roles constitutes the distribution of power. Power, in such a context, does not mean imposing one's will on others. Rather, power is the opportunity "to participate personally in social activities" (Bernardi 1985: 154). Mern age organization distributed this type of power to act socially. The 'warrior' age grade was granted the right to bear arms. In that role, warriors defended livestock and marriageable women from intrusions by rival clans.

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They also accumulated bridewealth by raiding other communities. Individuals who distinguished themselves as military and social leaders gained status which later translated into greater influence in elders' councils. The 'novice elder' age grade brought the right to marry, father children, and cultivate a portion of land. This family-centered activity, while not as stimulating as warrior raids or as prestigious as ruling elder deliberations, sustained the life of the community. Writers, like Baxter and Almagor (1978), who find little economic purpose for age sets may be overlooking this allocation of resources. Age norms regulated the timing of both marriage and access to land (Bemardi 1985). By controlling the distribution of the means of production and reproduction, the age set system wielded considerable economic power. The 'ruling elder' age grade, as the name implies, conveyed the right of sociopolitical decision-making. Ruling elders arbitrated disputes between clan members and disciplined deviants in accordance with traditional law. They also prevented warriors from making unwise raids or stirring up conflicts within the community. Although political and judicial power technically rested with ruling elders, valued and effective members of succeeding and preceding age grades often joined deliberations. Elders' councils also relied upon ritual specialists to ascertain blame and administer supernatural sanctions. 'Ritual elders' gave up decision-making on the main clan council and took charge of religious ceremonies and sacrifices. 'The aged' administered the most sacred rites; people believed them to be sexually inactive and thus ritually pure. (See Udvardy 1992.) Both 'ritual elders' and 'the aged' surveyed the life of the community for breaches of tradition. Moreover, they possessed valuable knowledge of affinal, consanguineal, and gichiaro (fictive kin) relationships. Warriors needed this knowledge to identify groups eligible for attack; marriageable adults required it to conform to the exogamous marriage rules. Perhaps even more importantly, people valued the very aged for their impending role as nkoma.

Female age organization Cross-cultural research on formal age-based social organization has unearthed few societies with important women's age institutions. Out of 20 East African societies with men's age sets, Kertzer and Madison (1981) found only three where women's sets were "present" and three with women's sets "assimilated" into the male system. Ottenberg (1971) and Paulme (1971) refer to weak women's age sets among the Afikpo and the Ebrie mad Mbato of West Africa. Farther afield, Maybury-Lewis mentions the presence of women's age sets among the Shavante of Brazil (1967). Meru offers one to the infrequent examples of a society with women's age sets. Meru women belonged to named age cohorts the same as men. Even today, elderly women cite age set names when giving their age. Female age groups progressed through age grades that were "almost parallel" to male institutions, according to early colonial observer Mary Holding (1942: 63). Apart from Holding, however, researchers have generally downplayed the significance of

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women's age organization in Meru. Lambert (1956) and Bemardi (1985) characterize women's age sets and age-graded councils as anemic, informally organized appendages of "formally constituted" male institutions. Fadiman and Mwaniki give scant coverage in their presentations of Meru oral history. All agree that women had little direct influence on events in the age-organized social and political activities of men. However, even when societies exclude women from male decision-making, women may be active within a separate female sphere (Leith-Ross 1965; Ross 1986). This pattern of behavior holds true especially in African societies where males and females typically function within "highly gendered spaces" (Udvardy and Cattell 1992: 275). Analyzing women's activities in Meru from this perspective generates a dramatically different picture of female age organization. To begin with, Meru women possessed the will and the ability to mount well-organized political protests. During the early colonial period, one group of women came together to complain forcefully about improper burial practices they believed responsible for drought. Women in another community banded together to raid the shop of an unfair trader. Still another group demanded an expiatory payment for the death of a clansman (Lambert 1939, 1956). Moreover, women cooperated to organize and regulate social events and interactions within their sphere. They educated and initiated young women. They settled disputes among women and disciplined women who deviated from traditions. They conducted religious ceremonies intended to preserve or restore agricultural productivity (Holding 1942; Lambert 1956). More to the point, age-based institutions facilitated women's activities. Holding (1942) describes a senior women's council, open to all wives of ruling elders, and even a more elite women's council, analogous to the regional male council. Lambert also recognizes the presence of women's biama which "restricted their activities" to "the women's sphere" (1956: 100). Fadiman as well mentions women's councils which "essentially reflected both the structure and functions of their male counterparts" (1993: 154). Failure to attribute more importance to female institutions possibly occurred because the women's sphere was closed to men. Holding states that male Meru informants "minimize the significance of women's institutions due either to ignorance.., or to a desire to maintain secrecy.., for fear of incurring the wrath of women's councils" (1942: 63). Much later, Fadiman (1993) relates his inability as a male researcher to explore the secrets of women. He asserts that the activities of women's councils "were carefully concealed from boys and men". Even the symbolic meaning of women's age set names "remained secret to all men" (1993: 154). Female age grades and age norms

In overall structure, women's age grades (Table IV) closely duplicate the stages of the male life course. However, differences existed. Unlike men who remained single warriors for about a decade, women married shortly after their initiation, a

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ceremony consisting of clitoridectomy and a brief period of instruction in the secrets of the women's kiama. Furthermore, the criteria for age grade transitions differed for men and women. A young woman's initiation and entry into adulthood usually came soon after menarche. Male initiation could be delayed for years depending on economic, social, and ecological circumstances. Once married, a woman's position in the age grade system depended on her husband's age grade and on the social age of her children. TABLE IV Female age grades Life stagea

Comparable male age grade

Terminationevent

Ngutu (Marriageable woman) Muciere (Young married woman)

None Novice elder

Mwekuru (Wife of ruling elder) Mwekuru (Wife of ritual elder) Ntindiri (Aged woman)

Ruling elder Ritual eider Aged man

Marriage Husband's age grade transition (Near initiation of first born) Age grade transition Age grade transition Death

Source: Adapted from Holding 1942. "Age ranges for women's age grades are omitted. Chronological estimates in available data are unclear. Age norms distributed rights and powers to women of different age grades. Initiation itself conferred a recognition of social and reproductive maturity, allowing a woman to marry and bear children. The reproductive rights conveyed at initiation were central to Meru life; neither man nor woman was complete without children. Daughters brought bridewealth. Sons offered security in old age. Both provided an important source of labor. Even today, one of the most prized blessings a person can receive is: "May you bear sons and daughters". The readiness for marriage stage, or ngutu, followed initiation and lasted only a short time. Dancing and courtship consumed this highly social phase of life, a time elderly women remember with relish. Once married, a young married woman, or muciere, concentrated on the productive and reproductive tasks necessary to establish her household. Her sole social duty was preparing food for certain feasts. Apart from the fight to reproduce, a muciere gained access to the means of production. A married woman received a portion of her husband's land to cultivate, an entitlement she retained even after his death. When her husband became a ruling elder, near her eldest child's circumcision, a woman became a mwekuru, or 'elder wife'. These women formed the kiama of senior women. This council oversaw women's initiation ceremonies, taught young women their roles in society, and passed on the secrets of the women's kiama. Moreover, they upheld traditional behavior among women and settled disputes. Women of the next age grade, whose younger children were circumcised, focused more on religious ceremonies, similar to male ritual elders. They also

246

SAMUELE THOMAS

shared oral traditions with girls of their grandchildren's generation. The eldest ntindiri age group, who like aged men were no longer sexually active, played crucial roles in sacred rituals, especially those associated with major threats to community productivity like drought and epidemics. Boundaries between age grades Important social events clearly marked age grade transitions for both men and women. Circumcision stood as the gateway to warriorhood for a man and to eligibility for marriage for a women. At the initiation of his eldest son, a man became a ruling elder; his wife became a senior woman. When the next age set became warriors, both retired from political activities and focused on rituals. Though individual flexibility occurred, the major transitions affected all age grades at the same time. When a new age set matriculated as junior warriors, senior warriors became novice elders, and so on. A regional ceremony called ntuiko, mediated by the mugwe, a divine prophet/king figure, accompanied age grade transitions (Bernardi 1959). Thus, when the social time clock chimed in Meru, everyone heard the notes and understood what the change meant for them and others. Despite the structural clarity of these regional promotions, their timing was variable. That flexibility provided the occasion for intergenerational tension. Some ritual conflict and liminal lawlessness was even encouraged. The centerpiece of this conflict was the staged expulsion of senior warriors from the gaaru (warriors' communal dwelling) by junior warriors. Foner and Kertzer (1978) point to this type of conflict as evidence of inherent instability within age set systems. In Meru, however, the influence of the mugwe and general community opinion kept reluctant elders from delaying transitions for very long. And, ritual ntuiko conflicts ventilated the suppressed anger of junior age sets. Only when traditional behavior eroded, due to ecological disaster and imposed colonial restrictions, did intergenerational tensions become problematic (Fadiman 1993). Social time and exploitation Spencer's ethnography of the Samburu (1965) characterizes East African age set societies as repressive gerontocracies in which older men abuse their power over young men and women. Meillassoux (1981) and Rey (1979) find similar oppression in patrilineages where male elders control the marriage of fertile women, who comprise the means to reproduce labor. As far as the Meru are concerned, senior age sets did exercise control over junior age grades. However, all gained access to senior grades as their age set graduated upward. As Bernardi argues: "Elders do not hold the entire block of power, and what they hold, they hold temporarily, for they are expected to hand it over to successors" (1985: 30). In other words, all Meru men and women had the same potential gender-differentiated rights, although their effective rights varied with the age grade they occupied. Men did, however, possess significant power over women. Men held ultimate control of land and labor resources; male social activities commanded more prestige. Nevertheless, women had consider-

SHIFTINGMEANINGSOF THE LIFECOURSEIN KENYA

247

able autonomy within the female sphere. That independence extended into the family itself, since wives largely controlled the production of their portions of land. Thus, the extent of male dominance may easily be overstated. CONTEMPORARYSOCIALTIMEIN MERU By the time I conducted my research in 1990-91, Meru had experienced prolonged contact with the British and other outsiders. This contact, in concert with ecological pressures, prompted the decline of formal age organization in Meru. The following analysis reveals the repercussions upon social time. Contemporary age grades In terms of meaning, participation in reciprocal relations still defines the life course. However, age-related variations in participation now depend less on socially demarcated age grades and more on productive and reproductive capabilities. The meaning of life revolves around getting married, establishing a family, and providing for them. I, therefore, divide contemporary age grades into 'contributors' and 'non-contributors' (Figure 3). 'Non-contributors' do not directly enhance the community's current productive and reproductive capacity. The nkoma maintain a marginal position among non-contributors. Although Memians seldom openly honor ancestral spirits

CONTRIBUTORS Approximate Age 6 5 ~ " J ".. /

~

:

~ Established Adult ~ ~

:

Approximate Transition Age ~iul~t WM~ e2e3530535

I Grandchildren "...-' Dependency [ ~ ~ ...... Age 80-85 ~lAependentO . ~ l d / - N ' " - _

Employed I Marriage/ _/v3~rILer _ ~ Employment .... J Mw2:mAeng:e205f305

Deat] \

~~t,~,,_

\

~

NON-CONTRIBUTORS Fig. 3. The contemporarylife course

)'Approximately

248

SAMUELE THOMAS

today, many do believe that deceased family members influence the fortunes of the living. Likewise, 'childhood' still constitutes an important precursory stage. Not unexpectedly, formal education overshadows the rehearsal for modem adult life. Of course, as children get older, they contribute more labor, just as maturing children once began anticipatory participation in clan life prior to circumcision. The appearance of a non-contributing 'pre-adult' stage represents an interesting change. For many Meruians, the interval between ages 15 and 30 remains largely preparatory. Recognition as a producing community member comes only when one starts a family and either acquires land or an off-farm job. Apart from land ownership, these criteria hold true for women. In terms of age, 79.9% of women aged 25 to 29, and 89.3% of those 30 to 34, possess these traits (Table V). For men, 54.1% between age 25 and 29, and 88.7% between 30 and 34, have reached adulthood (Table VI). TABLE V Occupations of young women Age 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34

Student N % 228 52 5 1

80.3 38.0 14.3 7.1

Age

Student N %

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34

0 0 0 0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Single women Unemployeda N %

Farming N % 28 38 19 8

9.9 27.7 54.3 57.2

Farming N %

24 8.5 25 18.2 4 11.4 1 7.1

Married women Unemployed N %

6 100.0 95 95.0 128 92.1 100 85.5

0 0 0 0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Off-farm N %

Total N %

4 1.4 22 16.1 7 20.0 4 28.6

284 137 35 14

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Off-farm N %

Total N %

0 0.0 5 5.0 11 7.9 17 14.5

6 100 139 117

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

a Youth who listed themselves as unemployed or 'school leavers' usually contribute some labor to their parents' household. However, their occupational goal is generally non-farm employment. The warrior age grade, which once covered approximately ages 15 to 29 for men, has disappeared altogether. In my census, 86.9% of warrior-aged males between 15 and 19 attended school, as did 32% of 20 to 24 year-olds and 7.6% of 25 to 29 year-olds. A significant minority of unmarried 15 to 29 year-olds, however, did not fare so well; 25.4% worked on their father's farms, 9.3% labored at low status non-farm jobs, and 7.0% sat idle awaiting employment. Moreover, migration stands as a seductive option for both unmarried and married men; 14.6% of 20 to 24 year-olds, and 31.6% of 25 to 29 year-olds, live and work elsewhere (Table VII).

SHIVI'INGMEANINGSOF THE LIFE COURSE IN KENYA

249

TABLE VI Occupations of young men

Student N %

Age 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34

225 63 13 0

86.9 32.5 16.7 0.0

22 70 39 6

8.5 39.5 50.0 42.9

Age

Student N %

Farming N %

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34

0 0 0 0

0 13 67 57

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Single men Unemployed N %

Farming N %

6 26 4 1

Off-farm N %

2.3 14.5 5.1 7.1

6 20 22 7

Married men Unemployed N %

0.0 72.2 72.8 51.8

0 1 0 0

0.0 5.6 0.0 0.0

Total N %

2.3 11.2 28.2 50.0

259 179 78 14

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Off-farm N %

Total N %

0 4 25 53

0 0.0 18 100.0 92 100.0 110 100.0

0.0 22.2 27.5 48.2

TABLE VII Migration patterns for children of elders over age 55 Men Agea N 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 No Age To~l

Localb %

Women Migrant N %

21 35 39 30 33 25 20 10 9 5 32

91.3 85.4 68.4 54.5 60.0 59.5 71.4 76.9 100.0 83.3 71.1

2 6 18 25 22 17 8 3 0 t 13

8.7 14.6 31.6 45.5 40.0 40.5 28.6 23.1 0.0 16.7 28.9

259

69.3

115

30.7

Total N

N

%

23 41 57 55 55 42 28 13 9 6 45

27 30 30 31 27 19 10 11 4 5 57

93.1 73.2 76.9 58.5 69.2 86.4 76.9 100.0 66.7 100.0 76.0

2 11 9 22 12 3 3 0 2 0 18

6.9 26.8 23.1 41.5 30.8 13.6 23.1 0.0 33.3 0.0 24.0

374

251

75.4

82

24.6 333

Local

Migrant N %

Total N 29 41 39 53 39 22 13 11 6 5 75

Informants estimated ages for their children; estimates could not be obtained for 45 men and 75 women. b The term 'local' includes home and neighboring villages. Although early marriage remains a c o m m o n path for young women, many do make other choices. For one thing, assuming most women married at age 17 or 18 during the colonial period (Holding 1942), marriage age has risen. In my census, only 2% o f w o m e n between 15 and 19, and 42% between 20 and 24, were

250

SAMUELR THOMAS

married. As was true for young men, formal education engages many young women: 78.6% of 15 to 19 year-olds, 21.9% of 20 to 24 year-olds, and 2.9% of 25 to 29 year-olds. Of unmarried women aged 15 to 29, 18.6% work on their father's farms, 7.2% possess off-farm jobs, and 11.6% consider themselves unemployed. Significantly, 26.8% of women between 20 and 24, and 23.1% of women between 25 and 29, live and work outside the community (Table VII). At the opposite end of the life span, 'dependent elderly' form another new non-contributing age grade. As I define them, dependent elderly require extensive assistance in daily living, and they are unable to participate effectively in reciprocal interactions. The very elderly compose this group; only 16% were younger than age 80. Excluding one person with dementia, none were less than age 75. The Meru once revered the aged for their knowledge of oral tradition, their role in sacred rituals, and their nearness to nkoma. Today, however, once elderly lose their physical strength, they no longer possess the means to contribute meaningfully to their families. Many women in this category do remain self-reliant in daily personal care. An old woman may cook for herself, and for her husband if he is alive. But, she only helps her family with small domestic tasks like caring for children, minding the compound, or peeling a few bananas and winnowing some peas. A typical dependent older male has relinquished control of family economic resources, even though the land title may remain in his name. Some older men babysit or watch the compound, but, because of the cultural division of labor, they rely on their wives or other women for cooking and domestic needs. Long-term observations (Table VIII) found 36.7% of women over 55 performing domestic work, compared to only 1.8% of older men; likewise, we observed 12% of older women and 4% of men caring for children. Thus, dependent older men generally create more drain on family labor resources than do dependent older women. TABLE VIII Observed activities of elders Men

Women

Activity

N

%

N

%

Economic Domestic Social Self-Care

38 1 11 6

67.9 1.8 19.7 10.6

24 25 11 8

35.3 36.7 16.2 11.8

Total

56

100.0

68

100.0

Active 'contributors' fall into three informal age grades. (1) 'Young adults' are either married with one or two small children or recently married without children. Young married men work at off-farm jobs (37.3%) or farm enough land for subsistence (62.3%). Young married women are employed (9.1%) or farming (90.9%) and are engaged in domestic tasks. (2) 'Established adults' typically

SHIFTINGMEANINGSOF THE LIFECOURSEIN KENYA

251

have several maturing children, perhaps even married children. During these productive years, a couple's energies often focus on paying school fees for their children, caring for elderly parents, and solidifying their own economic position for approaching old age. (3) By the time 'old age' arrives, a person has married children and grandchildren. Most old people remain economically active despite declining physical vigor. Interestingly, 30% of elders over 65 years of age still have children left at home to educate. The sociological characteristics of contributing age grades parallel the old 'novice elder', 'ruling elder', and 'ritual elder' categories. In sharp contrast, however, contemporary age grades are informally organized, and people move through the stages of life as individuals, not as members of formal age cohorts. Furthermore, new criteria differentiate age grades. Age set membership no longer plays a vital role. Marital and reproductive characteristics have gained in importance. And, productive status has appeared as an increasingly dominant distinguishing trait. New age norms: Changing roles and power In the current sociocultural context, many old social roles no longer exist. The coming of British soldiers made clan warriors redundant. Apart from occasional land arbitrations, centralized governmental administrators and courts have replaced male elders' councils. Though 'women's groups' often crystalize around development concerns, age-organized female associations rich in the traditions of women are also gone. Rituals likewise have fallen into disuse and disrepute. In the absence of these activities, those roles tied to production and reproduction have gained importance. Long-term observations of men and women over 55 years of age, the least physically active adult group, reveal that even older people spend most of their time contributing through economic and domestic activities (Table VIII). Certainly, productive roles are not new. Economic imperatives always formed the bedrock of social life. However, in the old Meru life course, the only stage characterized primarily by economic roles was novice elder/muciere, the adult age grade with the least status and prestige. Other age grades had their own distinctive social character. Now, the functions performed by all age grades represent mere variations upon the same essential theme, having a family and providing for them. As Meru families mature, this life task undergoes some changes. Young married couples direct their energies towards acquiring land, planting coffee trees, and building a better house. As middle-age approaches, their attention shifts to paying school fees and helping children gain employment or land. These variations, nonetheless, all relate to a common purpose - the economic imperative to produce in order to survive. Thus, instead of discrete social roles for each age grade, people of all ages do more or less the same thing, within the shifting context of a maturing family and relative to declines in their own physical vigor. The major determinants of self-worth, identity, and daily behavior - for all age grades - are defined by what a person accumulates and what they can do physically.

252

SAMUELE THOMAS

With reference to power, the primary locus of political control has shifted to centralized governmental institutions. The more localized 'power' of social participation now derives largely from access to the means of production and reproduction. Essential rights and resources are no longer strictly regulated by the clan and by age grade norms. Education, by opening the door to off-farm jobs, provides young men and women with relatively independent access to economic opportunity. For those between ages 15 and 34, 30.1% of men and 12.5% of women have off-farm jobs. Furthermore, migration to seek employment in other parts of Meru District and Kenya has become common. Interviews with elders over 55 revealed that 30.7% of their male children and 24.6% of their female children were living and working elsewhere (Table VII). With the advent of more diffuse and competitive avenues to livelihood, acquisition of power now relies less on waiting like the proverbial 'he-goat' and more on personal ability and initiative. Reciprocal kinship interactions remain important nonetheless. On one hand, the granting of reproductive rights in marriage usually involves kinship relations. On the other, parents struggle to provide economic advantages to their offspring, sacrificing to send them to school and to bequeath some land to their sons. Most adult children reciprocate; 44% of adults aged 25 to 54 assist their elders dally or weekly and another 42% help occasionally. Yet, land is scarce and family plots are small; a multitude of financial pressures tax parents' resources to the limit. Once youth receive their education, most must compete, largely on their own, for scarce resources within an increasingly impersonal and competitive national arena.

Changing age grade boundaries Given the decline of age sets, the cessation of ntuiko ceremonies, and the loss of ascribed social roles for different age grades, boundaries between age grades are individualized and ambiguous. Take the transition to adulthood. Circumcision is no longer the definitive symbol of full participation in community life. Two sets of criteria guard the gateway to responsible adulthood. One is marriage. The other is getting a job and/or acquiring enough land for subsistence. Adulthood in Mern has become an ambiguous, multi-layered affair, in which individuals have higher and lower status depending on occupation, income, education, and marriage, much like the stratification in western nations. Old age provides a second example. Becoming 'old' now depends primarily on declines in physical health and vigor and on the loss of control over economic resources. The transition is individualized and gradual. No clearly marked boundaries exist. Kinship and other groups in modem life With the demise of the age set system, Meru lost a vital component of social organization. Age sets once allowed individuals to share significant interests and activities with those outside their clans. How have the Meru adapted? One possibility, coopting kinship to fill the gap, has not materialized. Larger lineage-based institutions such as the clan appear to be weakening, not gaining

SHIFTINGMEANINGSOF THE LIFE COURSEIN KENYA

253

strength. Though clans still play a role in exogamous marriages, they no longer control land distribution and clan meetings are irregularly held. Social life centers more around what might be called the 'immediate extended family' (parents, married children, and grandchildren). Even those who live away usually maintain close contact with this kin group. Several new organizations do foster community identity and interaction. Churches, farmer's cooperatives, and community development initiatives bring adult men and women together in common purpose; schools provide a social meeting ground for youth. Though this mixture of associations lacks the heritage and permanence of age sets, it does facilitate the interaction of non-kin. Moreover, although most contemporary associations are gender-mixed, the endeavors of women's self-help groups maintain a faint resemblance to traditional female sphere activities.

ANALYSISAND CONCLUSION Three different analytic perspectives - historical time, life time, and social time all disclose transformations in the life course in southern Mern. The most notable historical time event in Meru during this century was contact with European society during a period of ecological stress. The resulting enculturation contributed to the dramatic decline of formal age sets and a significant reorganization of the life course. No longer anchored as solidly in kinship, the contemporary life course derives its meaning more directly from the factors of production and reproduction. Meru social time once rested on formal, named age sets moving through clearly bounded age grades with normatively ascribed social roles and economic resources. Now, social time consists of individualized movement through flexible, informal age grades with numerous autonomous avenues to rights and resources. Understandably, physiological vitality, which determines contribution to the family farming economy, and chronological age, which marks the boundaries for participation in the formal economic sector, have replaced social attributes such as age set membership in the measurement of life time or individual maturation. With regard to gender, cross-cultural analysis associates formal age sets primarily with men. In the old Meru life course, however, women also used age institutions to organize their social and political life. Although women held little sway in male age-organized activities, women were active in their own separate female sphere and used identifiable age grades and age norms to distribute resources and social rights among themselves. Thus, the demise of age organization meant the loss of separate women's councils, secret traditions, and special female roles in rituals and ceremonies. For a significant minority of women, education, migration, and off-farm employment compensate for these losses. For others, the disappearance of a separate age-organized female sphere has diminished their economic and social independence.

254

SAMUELE THOMAS

Yet, perhaps less fundamental change has occurred than appears at first glance. The rhythms of production and reproduction define the meaning of time and the life course in both contemporary Meru and the Meru of oral history. The life course differs now because new institutions mediate ecological survival. In the past, the patrilineal clan regulated access to land and labor, the essential means of agricultural production. Today, with numerous non-farm economic options, clan influence has declined. Since the age set system was a symbiotic institution that distributed kin-based rights and roles, formal age organization died as clans lost their control of productive and reproductive resources. The age set system, and the old life course built upon it, once formed an integral part of a socially mediated interface between the individual and the means of production. Today, much of this social interface has disappeared, and the relationships between productivity and the maturational stages of life are more clearly revealed.

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Department of Anthropology University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611, U.S.A.