DOCUMENT RESUME ED 261 945 SO 016 818 AUTHOR Sokolovsky, Jay; Sokolovsky, Joan TITLE Aging and the Aged in the Third World: Part II. Regional and Ethnographic Perspectives. Studies in Third World Societies, Publication Number Twenty-Three. INSTITUTION College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Dept. of Anthropology. PUB DATE Mar 83 NOTE 155p.; For Part I, see ED 251 334. AVAILABLE FROM Department of Anthropology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23185. PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Aging (Individuals); Case Studies; *Developing Nations; *Ethnography; *Older Adults; *Social Problems; Social Science Research; Social Structure; Social Systems; Social Values IDENTIFIERS China; India; Mexico; Papua New Guinea; Sudan; Third World ABSTRACT A volume devoted to aging and the aged in Third World societies focuses on ethnographic case studies from Papua New Guinea, China, India, the Sudan, and Mexico. The first of five articles, "Sweeping Men and Harmless Women: Responsibility and Gender Identity in Later We" (Dorothy Ayers Counts), examines the perception of gender over the life cycle through a focus on the Lusi-Kaliai people of Papua New Guinea. "Cultural Alternatives for the Vulnerable Elderly: The Case of China Past and Present" (Andrea Sankar) considers the elderly in China who have "fallen through the cracks"--e.g., childless and single elderly. "The Family Life of Older People in a Changing Society: India" (Sylvia Vatuk) concerns the effects of urbanization on the aging in India. "Aging, Power, and Status in an East African Pastoral Society" (Elizabeth H. Andretta) looks at a society in which the elderly are not a special status group. "Familial and Public Contexts for Aging: Growing Old in a Rapidly Changing Mexican Village" (Jay and Joan Sokolovsky) argues that societal transformation does not in itself preordain disastrous consequences for the elderly. Notes on contributors conclude the volume. (LP) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** r us. OCIANTINENT OF souomoos NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION. EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) dell, This document has boon reproduced so received from the person or organization originatinp it. i=i Minor changes have boon made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy. "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS. MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY uack4 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." STUDIES IN THIRD WORLD SOCIETIES is devoted to the study of cultures and societies of the Third World.Each publication contains papers dealing with a single theme or area, addressed both to scholars and laymen as well as to teachers, students, and practi- tioners of social science; the papers should be of value also to applied social scientists, planners, demographers, community development workers, and other students of human cultures and societies. COPYRIGHT 1982 by THE EDITORS Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:84-070106 Communications concerning editorial matters, including requests to reprint or translate, and correspondence about subscriptions, change of address, circulation, and payments should be addressed to: The Editors STUDIES IN THIRD WORLD SOCIETIES Department of Anthropology College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 23185U.S.A. Phone: (804) 253-4522 -i- 3 EDITORS VINSON H. SUTLIVE NATHAN ALTSHULER MARIO D. ZAMORA PUBLISHER DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY Williamsburg, Virginia23185 U.S.A. International Editorial Advisory Board Carlos H. Aguilar (University of Costa Rica), Muhammad All (University of Malaya), Jacques Amyot (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), Ghaus Ansari (Kuwait University), George N. Appall (Brandeis University), Harold Barclay (University of Alberta, Canada), Etta Becker-Donner (Museum fur Volkerkunde, Vienna, Austria), Harumi Befu (Stanford University),Ignacio Bernal (lnstituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico), Ronald M. Berndt (University of Western Australia), Fernando Camara (Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico), Paulo de Carvalho-Neto (Sao Paulo, Brazil), S. Chandra- sekhar (California State University), K.C. Chang (Harvard University), Chen Chi-lu (National Taiwan University, China), Hackeny Choe (Seoul National University, Korea), George Coelho (NationalInstitute of Mental Health, Maryland), Ronald Cohen (Ahmado Bello University, Niger- ia),Ronald Crocombe (University of the Pacific,Fiji Island), May N. Diaz (University of California, Berkeley), K.O. Dike (Harvard University), Fred Eggan (University of Chicago), S.C. Dube (India Institute of Advanced Study, India), S.N. Eisenstadt (Hebrew University,Israel), Gabriel Escobar M. (Pennsylvania State Univeriity and Lima, Peru), Claudio Esteva Fabregat (University of Barcelona, Spain), Orlando Fels Borda (Bogota, Colombia), Muhammad Fayyaz (Punjab University, Pakistan, and Queens University, Canada), C. Dean Freudenberger (School of Theology, Claremont, California) Morton H. Fried (Colum- bia University),Isao Fujimoto (University of California, Davis). C. von Furer-Haimendorf (London School of Oriental 4 and African Studies, England), Dante Germino (University of Virginia), Walter Goldschmidt (University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles), Nancie L. Gonzalez (Boston Univer- sity), W.W. Howells (Harvard University), Francis L. K. Hsu (Northwestern University), Charles C. Hughes (University of Utah Medical Center), Erwin H. Johnson (State Univer- sity of New York, Buffalo),Victor T. King University of Hull),Koentjaraningrat (University of Indonesia), T.A. Lambo (World Health Organization, Switzerland), Gottfried 0. Lang (University of Colorado), Peter Lawrence (Sydney University, Australia), Diane K. Lewis (University of California, Santa Cruz), Dapen Liang (Asiamerica Research Institute, California), Abdoulaye Ly (University of Dakar, Senegal), Robert A. Manners (Brandeis Univer- sity), Jamshed Mavalwala (University of Toronto, Canada), Eugenio Fernandez Mendez (Universidad de Puerto Rico), Alfredo T. Morales (National Research and Development Centre for Teacher Education, University of the Philip- pines), Gananath Obeyesekere (Princeton University, N.J. ), Gottfried Oosterwal (Andrews University), Morris E. Op ler (University of Oklahoma), Alfonso Ortiz (Princeton University), Akin Rabibhadana (Thammasat University, Thailand), V.J. Ram (United Nations, Beirut, Lebanon), M.S.A. Rao (University of Delhi,India), J.B. Romain (CRESHS, Haiti), Renato I. Rosaldo (Stanford University), Irving Rouse (Yale University), Miguel Acosta Saignes (Caracas, Venezuela),Kernial S. Sandhu (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore), Spiegal-Rosing (Rhur-Universitat Bochum, Germany), Rodolfo Stavenhagen (El Colegio de Mexico), Akira Takahashi (University of Tokyo, Japan), Donald Tugby (Queensland University, Australia), Victor C. Uchendu (University of Illinois and Kampala, Uganda), Lionel Vallee (University of Montreal, Canada), Mario C. Vasquez (National Office of Agrarian Reform, Peru), L.P. Vidyarthi (Ranchi University, India), B.M. Villanueva (United Nations, New York City), Hiroshi Wagatsuma (University of California,Los Angeles), Wong Soon Kai (Kuching, Sarawak), Inger Wulff (Danish National Museum). -iii-5 Publication Number Twenty-Three March 1983 AGING AND THE ACED IN THE THIRD WORLD:PART II. Regional and Ethnographic Perspectives Jay Sokolovsky Joan Sokolovsky Guest Editors Page Jay Sokolovsky and Joan Sokolovsky Introduction Dorothy Ayers Counts Sweeping Men and Harmless Women: Responsibility and Gender Identity in Later Life Andrea Sankar Cultural Alternatives for the Vulnerable Elderly:The Case of China Past and Present 27 Sylvia Vatuk The Family Life of Older People in a Changing Society:India 57 Elizabeth H. Andretta Aging, Power and Status in an East African Pastoral Society 83 Jay Sokolovsky and Joan Sokolovsky Familial and Public Contexts for Aging: Growing Old in a Rapidly Changing Mexican Village 111 Notes On The Contributors 145 -iv- 6 .7.71.!vit INTRODUCTION AGING AND AGED IN THE THIRD WORLD: PART II Regional and Ethnographic Perspectives JAY SOKOLOVSKY JOAN SOKOLOVSKY This second volume devoted to aging and the aged in the Third World focuses on ethnographic case studies from five areas of the world:Papua New Guinea:China: India:the Sudan:and Mexico.In general these studies seek to explore how culture creates a distinct perceptual, social and economic environment within which people age. The authors have drawn upon their extended fieldwork and intimate knowledge of specific small-scale communities to illuminate the process of growing old in the Third World. These culture-specific studies, while centering on particular ethnographic examples attempt to place their data within broader societal and theoretical contexts. In the first article Dorothy Counts examines the perception of gender over the life cycle and challenges Gutmann's concept of the "normal androgeny of later life".This issue is explored through her work with the Lusi people of west New Britain (an island dependency of Papua New Guinea) and by comparisons with other indigenous Melanesian populations.An important contri- bution of Count's study is her focus on women in later adulthood,a much neglected