Sociology Plus
Definition
An age set is a structured collection of individuals with comparable social ages that form at a particular stage of life and whose members officially move through strata as a group while maintaining group identification for most of their lives.
Age sets are groupings of people with similar status and responsibilities. Each male and female of a similar age make up this officially structured unit.
Explanation
Age sets are wide age ranges that specify the social status, jobs, and behavior patterns acceptable for persons who belong within them. Rituals or rites of passage are often used to commemorate the transition from one age group to another. Age sets are a crucial component of the social structure in many basic communities, but age is still a significant factor in determining who gets what legal rights and obligations even in modern society.
They primarily consist of age-related corporate social groups, with males predominating, and they serve as a crucial foundation for social structure, particularly in segmentary civilizations. Such age groups establish a system of social connections that go over family and ancestry, carrying out ceremonial sociopolitical and economic activities that may involve property ownership.
An age set is a universal phenomenon or corporate social group made up of individuals who are similar in age, have a similar identity, retain tight relationships across time, and go through several age-related statuses as a group.
In age grade, each person advances over time individually. Age grade is applied to the micro-sociological analysis and symbolic interactionism.
Example
The most well-known examples are South-East African systems, such as the Zulu impi system of age-based military units.
Another civilization whose social structure revolves around age groups is that of the Oromo people and their Gadaa System.