1st Edition
Anthropology and the Riddle of the Sphinx Paradoxes of Change in the Life Course
List of Contributors. Preface. 1. The Riddled Course: Theories of Age and its Transformations Paul Spencer 2. A Dangerous Age: From Boy to Young Man in Red Xhosa Youth Organisations Philip Mayer and Iona Mayer 3. The Social Process of Adolescence in a Therapeutic Community Iain Edgar 4. Coming of Age Among Jews: Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Ceremonies Leonard Mars 5. Interpreting Life Texts and Negotiating Life Courses: Youth, Ethnicity and Culture Paul Yates 6. The Notion of Adulthood in Rural Soviet Georgian Society Tamara Dragadze 7. Metaphors the Chinese Age By Stuart Thompson 8. Growing Old Gracefully: Physical, Social and Spiritual Transformations in Venda Society, 1956–66 John Blacking 9. Dimensions of Adulthood in Britain: Long-term Unemployment and Mental Handicap Richard Jenkins 10. The Social Construction of Parenthood in the People’s Republic of China Elisabeth Croll 11. Old Master, Young Master: Retirement on Finnish Farms Ray Abrahams 12. Strategies for Old Age Among the Berti of the Sudan Ladislav Holy 13. Dimensions of Change: Three Studies of the Construction of Ageing Haim Hazan 14. Clubs for le Troisième Âge: Communitas or Conflict Judith Okely. Name Index. Subject Index.
Biography
Paul Spencer was reader in African Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London at the time of original publication. He has written on aspects of maturation and ageing with reference to East African pastoral societies where age provides a major dimension of social organisation.
