The book argues that the category of mother is distinct from the category of woman and that many of the problems mothers face-socially, economically, politically, culturally, and psychologically-are specific to women's work and identity as mothers. Indeed, mothers, arguably more so than women in general, remain disempowered despite forty years of feminism. Mothers, thus, need a feminism of their own, one that positions mothers' concerns as the starting point for a theory and politic of empowerment. O'Reilly terms this new mode (...) of feminism matricentic feminism and the book explores how it is represented and experienced in theory, activism, and practice. The chapter on maternal theory examines the central theoretical concepts of maternal scholarship to include Adrienne Rich's distinction between mothering and motherhood, Sara Ruddick's model of maternal thinking and practice and Patricia Hill Collins' concept of othermothering while the chapter on activism considers the 21st century motherhood movement. Feminist mothering is likewise examined as the specific practice of matricentric feminism and this chapter discusses varies theories and strategies on and for maternal empowerment. Matricentric feminism is also examined in relation to the larger field of Feminist Theory and Women's Studies; here O'Reilly persuasively shows how matricentric feminism has been marginalized in feminist scholarship and considers the reasons for such exclusion and how such may be challenged and changed. (shrink)

Cet article étudie surtout les raisons de Faccueil favorable réservé à la théorie du droit maternel de Bachofen par des milieux de tendances ans4’: divergentes que le socialisme et le néoromantisme. Il montre qu'il y a chez Bachofen des tendances correspondant d'une part à la philosophie romantique et d'autre part à la critique de la société patricentrique. L'une ou l'autre de ces tendances se trouve être à la base des sympathies exprimées pour la théorie de Bachofen, selon l'orientation spirituelle ou (...) politique de son public. Au delà de cette question, l'auteur cherche à démontrer que la connaissance du „complexe matricentrique“, fondée sur l'étude des civilisations matriarcales, enrichit la doctrine des motifs psychiques qui sont à la base de la société moderne.This paper concerns itself mainly with the reason why Bachofen's mother-right theory met with so positive a reception by two such opposed circles as the Socialists and the New Romantics. It shows that in Bachofen there were present tendencies of romantic philosophy as well as statements leading to a criticism of the patricentric society — and that according to one's spiritual and political affiliations this or that aspect of Bachofen was made the basis for sympathy with the theory. It is also shown that the extensive knowledge of,,matricentric complexes“ obtained from study of matriarchal cultures, afford fruitful possibilities for the understanding of the psychological impulses lying at the root of modern society. (shrink)

During his years as a member of the Frankfurt School, Erich Fromm developed a strong interest in the idea that there were distinctive male and female character orientations. Drawing on the positive evaluation of matriarchy made in the nineteenth century by the Swiss anthropologist J. J. Bachofen, Fromm argued that a “matricentric” psychic structure was more conducive to socialism than the patricentric structure which had predominated in capitalism. His interest in maternalism and his opposition to patriarchy played an important part (...) in his rejection of Freud's theory of drives and in the development of a humanistic ethics in which love plays a central part. The idea of a gendered humanism is central to Fromm's social thought, although there is a danger that the over‐emphasis of sex‐based character differences unintentionally re‐opens the danger of the kind of sexual stereotyping which he resolutely opposed. (shrink)

This article integrates (1) research in the historical dynamics of state societies relating group solidarity and group expansion to cultural frontiers, (2) comparative research in anthropology relating matrilocality to a particular variety of internal politics and a particular form of warfare, and (3) interdisciplinary reconstructions of large-scale “demic expansions” and associated kinship systems in prehistory. The argument is that “metaethnic frontiers,” where very different cultures clash, are centers for the formation of larger, more enduring, and more militarily effective groups. In (...) small-scale non-state societies, the major path toward the formation of such groups is the establishment of cross-cutting ties among men. This often involves the adoption of matrilocal norms. The current distribution of matrilocality and matrilineality around the world may be partly a residue of major demic expansions in prehistory involving matrilocal tribes. This hypothesis is evaluated with a range of evidence, including information regarding the spread of two language families, Bantu and Austronesian. (shrink)