Knowledge and social change in Samia, Western Kenya
1Department of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College, 19010, Bryn Mawr, PA.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
|January 7, 2014
Summary
Elderly Samia in Kenya traditionally controlled knowledge, enhancing their status. Modernization has diminished this control, impacting their social standing and intergenerational relationships.
Area of Science:
- Anthropology
- Sociology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Cross-cultural research highlights the link between knowledge control and the status of older adults.
- Modernization significantly alters traditional roles and social structures for the elderly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the information processing activities of elderly Samia in colonial Kenya.
- To analyze how modernization has changed these activities and their implications.
Main Methods:
- Reconstruction of traditional knowledge control methods through interviews with elderly Samia.
- Field research in the 1980s observing contemporary information processing and social dynamics.
Main Results:
- Elders' traditional knowledge control mechanisms were identified.
- Significant shifts in information processing and elder status were observed due to modernization.
Conclusions:
- Changes in knowledge control affect the status and treatment of elderly Samia.
- Modernization impacts intergenerational relations and requires updates to gerontological theories.
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