This blog post posted in the Rift Valley Institute’s (RVI) website discusses how the Murle social institution of age-sets (sometimes known as generations) has, in recent years, been fragmenting and is becoming increasingly militarized. Body scarification is a valuable lens through which to view these transformations, as well as a way to better understand individual and collective youth identities, hopes and aspirations.
Drawing on material and immaterial cultural expressions, like body scarification or beads, offers a platform to debate issues ranging from identity, hopes and aspirations, to social changes and transformations.