Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Heave, Ho, NUMERO UNO

Gonna hafta break my numero-uno rule about buying books, namely, "Never buy a book until you've finished the last one you paid good money for."

The book I will not be able to live without is Cristina Biaggi's The Rule of Mars: The Origins, History and Impact of Patriarchy . This is "a new collection of the best writings by leading scholars on the subject of patriarchy -- how it came to be the dominant social system, how it has been maintained, and its impact on contemporary life."

Article authors include some of the very people I've featured on RGT, including Riane Eisler, Heide Goettner-Abendroth, James DeMeo (of "Flies Guys" fame; see my March 2006 series on The Flies), Genevieve Vaughn and others.

Just feast your eyes on the Table of Contents:

CHAPTER I: The Origins of Patriarchy

• “Tribal Elder Tales” compiled by Minnie Mace, tribal elder from Queensland, Australia

• “Notes on the Rise and Development of Patriarchy” by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, Ph.D. philosopher and cultural historian

• “The Saharasian Origins of Patriarchal Authoritarian Culture” by James DeMeo, Ph.D., founder of the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab and Greenspring Center, Ashland, Oregon

• “The Beginnings of Patriarchy in Europe” by Joan Marler, director and founder of the Institute of Archaeomythology and biographer of Marija Gimbutas

• “The Roots of Patriarchy in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia” by Cristina Biaggi, Ph.D., author/artist/lecturer

• “ Antigone in West Sumatra: Matriarchal Values in a Patriarchal Context” by Peggy Reeves Sanday, Ph.D., eminent anthropologist, author and Professor Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania

• “From Myth and Reality: The Projection of Gender Relations in Prehistoric China” by Cai Junsheng, senior research fellow of the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and has published a number of books

• “Eurasian Nomads and Patriarchy” by Jeannine Davis-Kimball, Ph.D., founder of the American-Eurasian Research Institute and the Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads

• “The Roots of Indo-European Patriarchy” by Miriam Robbins Dexter, Ph.D. in Indo-European Studies, author, professor of Woman’s Studies and Honors Programs at UCLA

• “On the Patriarchal Transformation of Matricentric Cultures” by Carola Meier-Seethaler, Ph.D. in Ethics, Psychotherapist, Lecturer in Philosophy and Psychology

• “Why Did Patriarchy Supersede Egalitarianism?” by Harald Haarman, Ph.D., Internationally known linguist, author of more than 40 books, fluent in 20 languages

• “Magic Maidens and Heroic Horsemen in Romanian Folklore” by Adrian Poruciuc, Ph.D., linguist, Professor of Germanic and Indo-European Studies at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, Romania

• “From Priestess to Bride: Marriage as a Colonizing Process in Patriarchal Conquest” by Vicki Noble, feminist healer, teacher, artist, scholar and writer

• “Clan and Tribe” by Sandra Barnhouse, retired university publications editor, futurist and author

CHAPTER II: Ramifications of Patriarchy

• “Violence Against Women and Children in the Scriptures and in the Home” by Mara Keller, Ph.D., Professor of Religion and Director of the California Institute of Integral Studies

• “War Is Man’s Business” by Elinor Gadon, CIIS professor and author of The Once and Future Goddess

• “Perpetuating Patriarchy after the American Revolution” by Mark E. Kann, Ph.D., USC professor of political science and history and author of Punishment, Prisons, and Patriarchy

“Patriarchal Capitalism vs. A Gift Economy” by Genevieve Vaughn, founder of the Foundation for a Compassionate Society, organizer of several conferences on Matriarchal Studies, also a peace activist and philanthropist.

“The Role Patriarchy Plays in Our Contemporary World Situation” by Leslene della-Madre, writer, practitioner and teacher of feminist shamanic healing arts, and founder of Winged Women Return in CA

CHAPTER III: Philosophical Perspectives

• “A Letter to Cristina” by Glenda Cloughley, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, journalist, management consultant, composer, founding member of A Chorus of Women

• “Taming Testosterone” by educator and writer Jeanette Blonigen Clancy, educator, writer on issues of global justice, understanding and cooperation between nations, races and religion

• “Towards Neo-Patriarchy?” by Paola Melchiori, feminist philosopher

CHAPTER IV: The Personal IS Political

• “Seven Chariots of War” by Suzanne Bellamy, Australian artist, writer and teacher

• “Patriarchy and Its Toxicities -- Matriarchy and Its Possibilities” by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Ph.D., author of several books on feminism and prehistory and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at CIIS, San Francisco

• “Observations on Patriarchy and Its Decline” by Tatyana Mamonova, exiled Russian poet, writer and activist and recipient of the Living Legacy Award for her outstanding contributions to humanity

• “Becoming Viable” by Starr Goode, poet, writer, teacher of literature at National University

• “Placating the Beast: How Women Sustain Patriarchy” by Stephanie Hiller, writer, environmentalist, and editor of Awakened Woman e-magazine

• Patriarchy: The Role Women Play” by Kristina Berggren, Ph.D., archaeologist and a specialist in late Bronze Age religion in Europe

CHAPTER V : Pathways for Change

• “Changing Our Ways of Thinking” by Mary E. Clark, Ph.D., biologist, author and educator

• “Partnership: Beyond Patriarchy and Matriarchy” by Riane Eisler, author of the international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade and president of the Center for Partnership Studies

• “Options for the Future: Transforming Patriarchy Through a Process of Cultural Metamorphosis” by Imogene Drummond, psychotherapist, painter and writer

FROM Goddess Pages: An Online Journal of Goddess Spirituality in the 21st Century
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thnx to dashek for the foto

5 comments:

Morgaine said...

WOW. That's a lot of important information from a lot of really smart people. This is why I have trouble working on my book...

Athana said...

I know, I know, I know! They should just all stop writing books until we finish ours, I say!

Vincent said...

Yeah, yeah. What is annoying about feminist propaganda (to an unrepentant man) is that it ascribes all the ills of personkind to one thing. Whereas we could see history in a greater number of dimensions, including patriarchy & matriarchy.

Morgaine said...

I got my copy today - damn, it's got some impressive work in it. I am thoroughly humbled.

Athana said...

yves, all the ills of personkind *are* due to one thing. Or at least almost all of them are due to one thing.

Name an ill and I'll tell you how it stems -- directly or indirectly -- from the rise of the flies guys (i.e., the patriarchy).