Return to Lake Madre. A journey into the heart of a matriarchal culture.
The series of meetings dedicated to the rereading of the past and the possible forms of human life continues with a special event: the guest of our online meeting will be Francesca Rosati Freeman, writer and documentary maker, author of the book Return to Lake Madre.
In her work, the author takes us on an intense and engaging journey into the heart of a still-existing matriarchal culture: that of the Mosuo, in the Himalayan region on the border between China and Tibet. An experience that is not only ethnographic, but also profoundly human and political.
Through direct storytelling and field observation, Return to Lake Madre raises a powerful and necessary question: is it possible to imagine a society founded on principles other than the competitive, hierarchical, and patriarchal ones that have dominated our recent history?
The culture described in the book proposes a social organization centered on the maternal line, cooperation, shared responsibility, and emotional relationships not based on possession. This is not an abstract utopia, but a concrete reality that invites us to question many of the categories we take for granted.
During the meeting we will discuss the book's central themes with the author:
- the meaning of “matriarchal” today;
- the social and family structures of the Mosuo;
- the relationship between gender, power and conflict;
- the cultural difficulties we encounter in imagining less violent social models;
- what this experience can teach us in the present.
It will be an opportunity to reflect together on how the past and elsewhere can open up spaces of possibility in our time.
A meeting that doesn't promise simple answers, but will certainly offer new perspectives and tools for thought.
When: March 11th at 6:30 PM
Where: ZOOM platform
Sign up now: preistoriainitalia@gmail.com
For members of Preistoria in Italia, registration is automatic, they will receive the link to the email provided when registering.
