Do people from different cultures perceive the process of ageing in different ways?
The answer to this riddle has to be yes, but with a caution. There are going to be issues that are universal while others are going to be specific to a culture. All people age, have families and work. In the comparative research of Project AGE we see how age, families and work are configured differently in Africa and in Ireland or North America. Smaller scaled societies in the Kalahari of Botswana such as the !Kung and Herero make their living through foraging or through the herding of cattle. The conception of age is the relativity of younger or older. Although the Herero have a system of named years, these do not translate into chronology. !Kung adults contribute to the food quest until physical declines reduce their activities to the collection of firewood and finally to sitting in camp. Herero engage in heavy work throughout their lives and in old age they proudly command their children to work for them as they did for their parents. Work in both of these societies is organized thr
