LEADER 03478 am 2200661 n 450 001 9910576798603321 005 20211124 010 $a2-493207-06-8 024 7 $a10.4000/books.africae.3232 035 $a(CKB)4100000012877771 035 $a(FrMaCLE)OB-africae-3232 035 $a(oapen)https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/87153 035 $a(PPN)263750930 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000012877771 100 $a20220621j|||||||| ||| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $auu||||||m|||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 12$aA Complex Polity $eGenerations, Initiation, and Territory, among The Old Meru Of Kenya /$fAnne-Marie Peatrik 210 $aNairobi, Nanterre $cAfricae$d2021 215 $a1 online resource (496 p.) 225 1 $aAfricae Monographs 311 $a9966-128-04-2 330 $aWeaving together ethnography and history, this book offers an in-depth analysis of the pre-colonial polity of the Meru of Kenya and its radical transformations from 1908 through the 1950s. It addresses the manifold issues of initiation and the politics of belonging, unravels the intertwined life courses of men and women, and disentangles the web of family life and the handover of power across political generations. Restoring two well-known instances of Meru politics to their rightful place?the enigmatic mûgwe and the famous njûûri ncheke-the book also offers a fresh reading of the controversial story of Mbwaa. It sheds light on the crisis of the 1930s affecting male and female initiations, and establishes a link with the demographic transformations and the radical shift that occurred during the 1950s. A Complex Polity renews the issue of the historicity of political generation-set systems in Meru, as well as elsewhere in Kenya and eastern Africa. More broadly, the work aims to promote comparative anthropology to enhance knowledge of African pre-colonial democracies and polities, and a deeper understanding of social and cultural change in the longue durée, linking precolonial and postcolonial Africa. ?Peatrik?s book is not a simple ethnographic monograph, it is an innovative analysis on the topic of age grades? Her study lies, in its own right, among the classics of ethnology and among the most original and comprehensive works on this subject. It is recommended not only to the africanists and the anthropologists, but also to those who are interested in studying social and political systems.? Bernardo Bernardi, author of The Mugwe, a Failing Prophet, and of Age Class Systems. 517 $aComplex Polity 606 $aHistory 606 $aAnthropology 606 $aKenya 606 $aeastern Africa 606 $aages of life 606 $afamily 606 $akinship 606 $aMeru 606 $apre-colonial polity 610 $aKenya 610 $aeastern Africa 610 $aages of life 610 $afamily 610 $akinship 610 $aMeru 610 $apre-colonial polity 615 4$aHistory 615 4$aAnthropology 615 4$aKenya 615 4$aeastern Africa 615 4$aages of life 615 4$afamily 615 4$akinship 615 4$aMeru 615 4$apre-colonial polity 700 $aPeatrik$b Anne-Marie$01284554 801 0$bFR-FrMaCLE 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910576798603321 996 $aA Complex Polity$93031801 997 $aUNINA