title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Thomas