Michelle Berkon: Australia has a problem with truth-telling

Michelle Berkon discusses Australia has a problem with truth-telling.

In colonial settler projects the world over, language and law are the tools of white supremacism, glorifying the colonial entity, erasing Indigenous ownership of coveted land and property, and criminalising resistance.

The inscription on Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s statue in Hyde Park is a perfect example.

This man arrived on these shores with child slaves — two young boys purchased in India. He authored the Appin Massacre, the murder of 14 Dharawal and Gundungurra men, women and children.

He strung up on trees the corpses of two of these men, Cannabaygal and Dunnell; and had the skull of one sent to Scotland as a trophy.

This man is described as “a perfect gentleman, a Christian and supreme legislator of the human heart”.

Emphasis Mine

As we are witnessing the genocide in Palestine, the Western media is promoting the colonial-settler project in Israel by:

• downplaying the atrocities committed by the IDF;
• portraying Palestinian resistance as terrorism;
• downplaying the confiscation of Palestinian land by Israeli settlers;
• denying the existence of Palestine.

No wonder the ruling class wants to protect statues as the statues justify the current status quo of a white supremist culture.

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Joan Bamberger: The Myth of Matriarchy

Joan Bamberger discusses The Myth of Matriarchy

Summary

Matriarchy does not exist today in any society. The historical existence of matriarchy remains disputed. There is no evidence from myths that the adoption of settled agriculture caused the shift from matriarchy to patriarchy. The myth of the matriarchy hampers the women's movement by diverting attention away from changing existing gender relations.

Origin of Matriarchical Studies

Bamberger (pp. 263-4) writes:

The earliest and most erudite study of matriarchy was published in Stuttgart in 1861 by the Swiss jurist and classical scholar Johann Jakob Bachofen. His Das Mutterrecht (Mother right: an investigation of the religious and juridical character of matriarchy in the ancient world) had an impact on nineteenth-century views on the evolution of early social institutions. Arguing from mainly poetic and frequently dubious historical sources (Hesiod, Pindar, Ovid, Virgil, Horace, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Herodotus, and Strabo), Bachofen tried to establish as moral and historical fact the primacy of “mother right,” which he thought sprang from the natural and biological association of mother and child. Matriarchy, or the dominion of the mother “over family and state,” according to Bachofen, was a later development generated by woman’s profound dissatisfaction with the “unregulated sexuality” that man had forced upon her. A gradual series of modifications in the matriarchal family led to the institution of individual marriage and “the matrilinear transmission of property and names.” This advanced stage of mother right was followed by a civil rule by women, which Bachofen called a “gynocracy.” The rule by women was overthrown eventually by the “divine father principle,” but not before mother right had clearly put its stamp on a state religion. Indeed, it was this sacred character of matriarchy, founded on the maternal generative mystery, that represented for Bachofen the bulk of his evidence in favor of ancient matriarchies. (Italics in original

Emphasis Mine

Bachofen started matriarchical studies by postulating that the generative power of females was the basis for the political system of matriarchy. His contributions also include:

• Use of myths to reconstruct historical events
• Postulate that patriarchy replaced matriarchy directly
• Postulate that ideology initiated this replacement—this follows the Hegelian Dialects that was prevalent at the time (1860's)

Myths Used to Study History

Bamberger (pp.266-7) writes:

Since the publication of Das Mutterrecht this “virgin territory” has been explored by a horde of archaeologists and social anthropologists. Their diligent searches into the prehistory of Mediterranean cultures as well as into the present conditions of primitive societies around the world have not uncovered a single undisputed case of matriarchy. Even the Iroquois, once a stronghold for “matriarchists,” turn out to be matrilineal only, although Iroquois society still comes the closest to representing Bachofen’s ideal “gynocratic state,” since Iroquois women played a decisive role in lineage and village politics. Yet in spite of the substantial power wielded by women, men were chosen consistently as political leaders. At most, the Iroquois today are considered a “quasi-matriarchy ” (Wallace, 1971).

To have cast doubt, as I have just done, on the historical evidence for the Rule of Women is not the same thing as challenging the significance of the mythologies of matriarchy. The main issue would seem not to be whether women did or did not hold positions of political importance at some point in prehistory, or even whether they took up weapons and fought in battle as the Amazons allegedly did, but that there are myths claiming women did these things, which they now no longer do. This mythological status of primitive matriarchies poses as interesting a problem as any generated in the nineteenth century about the credibility or viability of matriarchy as a social system. Undoubtedly the false evolutionism and mistaken prehistory led to the obfuscation of any real contribution Bachofen might have made to the study of myth, since he did not consider that the “events ” related by myths need not have a basis in historical fact. (Italics in original

Emphasis Mine

At the time (1971), Bamberger could not find a case of matriarchy in existing primitive societies. This absences contradicts the hypothesis that settled agriculture allowed patriarchy to replace matriarchy.

The prevalence of myths of matriarchy and its replacement by patriarchy strengthens the hypothesis that this was a real historical event.

Bamberger (p.267) writes:

Rather than replicating a historical reality, myth more accurately recounts a fragment of collective experience that necessarily exists outside time and space. Composed of a vast and complex series of actions, myth may become through repeated recitation a moral history of action while not in itself a detailed chronology of recorded events. Myth may be part of culture history in providing justification for a present and perhaps permanent reality by giving an invented “historical” explanation of how this reality was created.

Emphasis Mine

This methodology permits myths to be interrogated in order to reconstruct the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy as an experience.

Matriarchy Myth as Tool of Oppression

Bamberger (p.280) concludes:

Myth and rituals have been misinterpreted as persistent reminders that women once had, and then lost, the seat of power. This loss accrued to them through inappropriate conduct. In Tierra del Fuego the women tricked the men into performing both male and female chores; and in the northwest Amazon they committed the crime of incest. The myths constantly reiterate that women did not know how to handle power when they had it. The loss is thereby justified so long as women choose to accept the myth. The Rule of Women, instead of heralding a promising future, harks back to a past darkened by repeated failures. If, in fact, women are ever going to rule, they must rid themselves of the myth that states they have been proved unworthy of leadership roles.

The final version of woman that emerges from these myths is that she represents chaos and misrule through trickery and unbridled sexuality. This is the inverse of Bachofen’s view of pre-Hellenic womanhood, which he symbolized as a mystical, pure, and uncorrupted Mother Goddess. The contrast between mid-Victorian notions of the ideal woman (they are not those of ancient Greece, as Bachofen supposed) and the primitive view, which places woman on the social and cultural level of children, is not as great as it appears. The elevation of woman to deity on the one hand, and the downgrading of her to child or chattel on the other, produce the same result. Such visions will not bring her any closer to attaining male socioeconomic and political status, for as long as she is content to remain either goddess or child, she cannot be expected to shoulder her share of community burdens as the coequal of man. The myth of matriarchy is but the tool used to keep woman bound to her place. To free her, we need to destroy the myth.

Emphasis Mine

Bamberger argues that since the myths of matriarchy posits an unrealistic view of women, the pursuit of a return to matriarchy (however imagined) precludes the inclusion of women into existing power structures.

References

Bachofen, J. J. (1967). Selections Myth, Religion, and Mother Right: Selected Writings. Princeton University Press.

Bamberger, J. (1974). The myth of matriarchy: why men rule in primitive society. Women, culture and society, 263-80.

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Sam Williams: Palestine

Sam Williams discusses Palestine

This brings us to another reason: imperialism needs to keep anti-Semitism alive after the Holocaust. Israel claims to be the state of the entire Jewish people whether they live in Israel or not, enabling U.S. imperialism to direct the hatred Israel inevitably creates among the Palestinians, other Arabs, as well as peoples throughout the world toward Jews as a whole. This directs that hate away from U.S. imperialism, keeping anti-Semitism alive after the Holocaust. It is, therefore, impossible to fight against anti-Semitism without at the same time fighting against Zionism.

Israel claims to represent the entire Jewish people. If it’s allowed by Genocide Joe to carry out a full-scale genocide against the Palestinian people, all Jewish people will be blamed for it. This makes possible a full-scale revival of Nazi-style anti-Semitism that argues that Hitler was correct about the need to exterminate all Jews. Whether or not they realize it, every Jewish person has a vital stake in the fight to halt the current Palestinian Holocaust being carried out in the name of all Jewish people. It’s a matter of life and death today for the Palestinians but tomorrow for the Jews.

Emphasis Mine

The Israeli government and ruling class needs anti-Semitism to justify the existence of the State of Israel. If anti-Semitism were to be eliminated, then there is no justification for the State of Israel. However, the need for the State of Israel will still remain as an outpost of US imperialism to forestall Arab unity.

This is why the supporters of Israel are eagar to find anti-Semitism everywhere. They need that justification for the existence of Israel. Without that justification, the real aims of US imperialism would be exposed.

The State of Israel needs to subsumed into a free and secular State of Palestine. This state should be able to wlecome back all Palestinian refugees and their descendents.

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Jingyao Wang: A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas

Jingyao Wang discusses A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas

…In learning from the experience of the Soviet Union in building a democratic regime, the CPC emphasized that the Chinese Party should learn from the successful experience of Soviet construction in the Soviet Union and apply it widely among its party members and the general public, so as to prepare cadres and talents in advance and to construct the regime structure in an agile manner. The CPC's practical experience in the construction of Soviet power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas was an initial exploration of regime building, with its main measures imitating the Soviet model of democracy in the USSR, but at the same time incorporating the unique elements of the Chinese Revolution and embedding the innovative spirit of the CPC. At the spiritual level of democracy building, the CPC actively promoted the theory of soviets, elaborated in depth its connotation and concrete practice, spread the consciousness of soviet democracy, and consciously strengthened the construction of democratic ideology among workers, peasants, and soldiers; at the organizational level, it chose the meeting of the people's deputies and sent representatives to interface with the grassroots masses before seizing power, to ensure that the organization of the regime was tightly organized in terms of democracy and that the CPC had an influential role to play. …(p.80)

Emphasis Mine

Wang argues that the growth of democracy in China is an iterative process under the guidance of the CPC starting from the Soviet model expressed in the October revolution. The divergence from the Soviet model is based upon experiences in China. The impetus for democratic evolution in China comes from the CPC.

In the course of promoting the construction of base areas, the CPC has carried out continuous practice and exploration with regard to the construction of democratic regimes. First of all, in-depth studies were conducted on how to effectively solve the problem of peasants' survival on the land. The low level of agricultural production and the poverty of peasants at that time seriously affected the Party's ruling base and mass foundation. The CPC attached great importance to the issue of peasants and land, and promulgated a series of central documents and laws to clarify the connotation of land policy. [T]he 1931 Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic stipulated that "the confiscation of the land of landlords and the land of other large private owners is authorized," and that it "stands in the interests of the basic peasantry and the future development of the revolution. "on the basis of the basic interests of the masses and the future development of the revolution", the land decree was adopted "as the best guarantee for the solution of the land problem" . The distribution of land benefits based on the material basis of the people's livelihood and the interest of the people as one of the fundamental goals of the process of democracy building, thus completely destroyed the economic basis of rural feudalism and at the same time stimulated the political awakening of the peasant masses. The distribution of land to the masses of peasants greatly liberated the productive forces and touched upon the material issues that were of greatest concern to the peasants, which also led to a high degree of enthusiasm for participation in the democratic revolution, and they responded positively to the call of the Revolutionary War by enthusiastically enlisting in the army and the war, pushing forward the development of production, and taking an active part in the governance of the soviet state and in the building of the Soviet regime. (p.81)

Emphasis Mine

Wang contends that economic liberation and growth precedes development of democracy in China.

In the Central Revolutionary Base Areas, under the system of "soviets", the Party led the establishment of democratic power for workers and peasants at all levels. Democracy in the Chinese soviets was characterized by a broad range of participating subjects, a full range of coverage, with the soviets striving to respond truthfully to the views of the people in every aspect, from the political and economic to the social life of society and from the central to the grass-roots levels; and a full range of processes, with the soviets emphasizing not only mass participation during the period of the democratic elections, but also post-democratic governance, in order to safeguard the nature of a regime where the people are the masters of their own affairs. (p.82)

Emphasis Mine

This post-democratic governance extends to review of any proposed legislation by the populace as Wang writes below:

Secondly, the democratic decision-making process is "complete". The Party's exploration of democratic decision-making under the leadership of the people is mainly reflected in the process of building the rule of law in the Chinese Soviet Republic. In the process of legislative proposals, legislative research, the writing of draft legislation, the discussion and revision of legislative documents, and the implementation of legal documents, emphasis is placed on listening to the views of the masses and strengthening the people's participation in the entire chain of legislative work. When drafting laws, the opinions and needs of all strata of the population are fully heeded and legal provisions are formulated. (p.82)

Emphasis Mine

My understanding is the Whole Process People's Democracy consists of the following elements:

1. The central and guiding role of the CPC: Western media would contend that this is the basis of authoritarianism in China as there is no way to replace the CPC with another party, say the KMT.
2. Continual evolution: democracy in China started in the base areas from the ideal of the Soviets and has evolved since.
3. Necessity of Economic Liberation: Without peasant control of the land, a democratic society could not be built. Without economic growth and those benefits flowing to the peasants, the peasants could not participate in the democratic process. Notice that State and Private Capitalism is not being challenged at this time.
4. Post-democratic Governance: Democratic participation does not stop at the ballot box but continue with the involvement in the development of legislation directly by the people.

References

Wang, J. (2023). A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas. Transactions on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 1, 79-86.

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