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International Conference on the Gift Economy
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Abstract: Heide Gottner Abendroth (Germany)The relationship between Modern Matriarchal Studies and the Gift Paradigm There are important analogies between Modern Matriarchal Studies and
the Gift Paradigm. Matriarchal women are managers and administrators, who organise the economy not according to the profit principle where an individual or a small group of people benefits; the motivation behind their action is motherliness. With the principle of motherliness altruism reigns and the well being of all is at the centre. It is at the same time a spiritual principle, which humans take from nature. Mother Nature cares for all beings, however different they might be. Gift giving is here not just a coincidental, arbitrary act, but forms the basic structure of economy and society. In my lecture I will give the complete definition of "matriarchy", which
is the result of three decades of my research in this field, and explain
in which way systematic gift giving underlies all activities in matriarchal
societies. Heide Gottner-Abendroth is woman philosopher and researcher in culture and society, focused on matriarchal studies. She was born in Thuringia (Germany) in 1941 and is the mother of three children, two daughters and one son. In 1973 she took her Ph.D. in philosophy and theory of science at the University of Munich. There she taught philosophy for ten years (from 1973-1983). She published philosophical books and articles on the theory of science in several languages. In 1976, she joined the New Women's Movement as a gesture of protest against the established institutions of science and the discrimination of women scholars at the universities, since then she has been doing pioneer work in Women´s Studies in Germany together with her female colleagues. She has been always interested in conceptions of a new society and became well-known as a profound and subtle critic of patriarchy. She published various books on matriarchal society and culture and, by her research during 30 years, she has become the founding mother of Modern Matriarchal Studies based on scientific methods. In 1986, she founded the "International ACADEMY HAGIA. Academy for Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality" (situated near Passau in Southeastern Germany), and since then she is director. She gave lectures to a great variety of people in general public at home and abroad, and she had invitations to lecture at several universities. In 1980, she was visiting professor (guest-professor) at the University of Montreal (Canada) and, in 1992, at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). In 1993 she received a scholarship of the University of Bremen (Germany) for her research. Since 1998, she is member of the "Institute of Archaeomythology" in California. In the year 2003, she organised and guided the first "World Congress on Matriarchal Studies" in Luxemburg. International Academy HAGIA "HAGIA. International Academy for Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality" has been founded and directed by Heide Göttner-Abendroth since 1986. Academy HAGIA is unique in its way to do scientific research and teaching on the subject of matriarchal societies. The program contains lectures, seminars, and courses of study, furthermore exhibitions of the arts and artistic performances (festivals) of matriarchal spirituality following the cycles of the seasons and of life. Every year, new exploring expeditions and informative travels are made to different countries of Europe, of Asia, Africa, and America. These travels are either archaeological study travels to the historical remnants of matriarchal culture, or they are ethnological travels to the people of the last matriarchal societies of today. |
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