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The diversification of a pastoral society : education and employment among the Maasai of Narok District, Kenya

The research investigates the determinants and effects of two key indicators of diversification, schooling and employment, on Maasai community. Quantitatively and qualitatively it shows that this community is experiencing changing patterns of education and employment, both of which represent virtually closed systems within Narok District. The intergenerational study quantitatively demonstrates increasing rates of school participation, showing how wealth influences schooling, and how Maasai now disproportionately send firstborns to school. / Qualitative material from in-depth interviews shows increasingly positive attitudes towards education, even by those who do not educate their children, and the ambiguity of Maasai responses to social change: increasing social and economic complexity, with a strong continuing role for the animal-based society and economy, even in its commercialized form where it generates jobs pursued by younger non-educated males as herders and traders. As employment beyond the home economy increases, the educated are more likely to enter formal employment and show higher rates of job mobility.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.39386
Date January 1992
CreatorsHolland, Killian
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageDoctor of Philosophy (Department of Anthropology.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001312754, proquestno: NN80332, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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