Societies Of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present and Future

by Goettner-Abendroth, Heide

• ISBN13: 9780978223359
• ISBN10: 0978223357
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-08-30
• Publisher: Brunswick Books

Summary

Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past Present and Future, edited by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, celebrates women's largely ignored and/or invisible contribution to culture by exploring matriarchal societies that have existed in the past and that continue to exist today in certain parts of the world. Matriarchal societies, primarily shaped by women, have a non violent social order in which all living creatures are respected without the exploitation of humans, animals or nature. They are well-balanced and peaceful societies in which domination is unknown and all beings are treated equally. This book presents these largely misunderstood societies, both past and present, to the wider public, as alternative social and cultural models that promote trust, mutuality, and abundance for all.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Theory and Politics of Matriarchal Societies
The Deep Structure of Matriarchal Society: Findings and Political Relevance of Modern Matriarchal Studies	p. 17
The Utopia of a Motherless World - Patriarchy as "War-System"	p. 29
Matriarchy and the Gift Economy	p. 45
Present Matriarchal Societies - America and Oceania
North and Central America
"They Are the Soul of the Councils": The Iroquoian Model of Woman-Power	p. 57
Matriarchal Principles for Economies and Societies of Today: What We Can Learn from Juchitán	p. 70
Matriarchal Values with the Sierra Juarez Zapotecs of Oaxaca	p. 76
South America and Oceania
"Goldmother Bore Human Children into the World": The Culture of the Kuna	p. 80
Women and Power: The Shipibo of the Upper Amazon	p. 92
"Aia Na Ha'ina i Loko o Kakou": The Answers Lie Within Us	p. 106
Restoring Liberative Elements of Samoan Cultural Gender Arrangements	p. 108
Present Matriarchal Societies-Africa
West and South Africa
Female Leadership among the Asante	p. 117
Akan Healing Heritage	p. 129
The Practice Medicine in Matriarchal Societies	p. 137
Beyond Patriarchy and Violence: The Khoisan and Partnership	p. 145
North Africa
"We Are the Shelter and the Protection": The Representation of Gender Among the Tuaregs	p. 159
A Tuareg Woman in Modern Times	p. 173
The Central Position of Women Among the Berber People of Northern Africa: The Four Seasons Life Cycle of a Kabyle Woman	p. 178
Present Matriarchal Societies-Asia
India and Sumatra
Khasi Matrilineal Society: Challenges in the Twenty-first Century	p. 193
Nayars of Kerala and Matriliny Revisited	p. 205
Matriarchal Values and World Peace: The Case of the Minangkabau	p. 217
The Role of Minangkabau Women	p. 228
China
The Kinship System of the Mosuo People of China	p. 240
Mosuo Family Structures	p. 248
Frameworks for Societies in Balance: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Gender Equality	p. 256
Past-Theory of History
The Battle over Human Possibilities: Women, Men and Cultural Transformation	p. 269
The Iconography and Social Structure of Old Europe: The Archaeo-mythological Research of Marija Gimbutas	p. 283
Nefertiti- "A Beautiful Women Has Come": Matriarchal Power in the Spiral of History	p. 297
Past Matriarchal Societies
Europe
Footsteps of the Goddess in Britain and Ireland	p. 313
Landscapes of the Ancestress: Principles of Matriarchal Natural Philosophy and Landscape Mythology	p. 323
The "Helka Festival": Traces of a Finno-Ugric Matriarchy and Worldview?	p. 334
Dark Mother, Dark Others, and a New World: The Case of Sardinia	p. 349
North Africa, Israel, Japan
How the Amazons Got Their Name	p. 361
In Search of the Lybian Amazons: Preliminary Research in Tunisia	p. 367
Matriarchal Structures in the Hebrew Bible	p. 384
The Matristic Roots of Japan and the Emergence of the Japanese Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-mi-kami	p. 394
Origin of Patriarchy
Saharasia: The Origins of Patriarchal Authoritarian Culture in Ancient Desertification	p. 407
Notes on the Rise and Expansion of Patriarchy	p. 424
Matriarchal Politics
Declaration on Matriarchal Politics	p. 437
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.