Matriarcat et origine des inégalités dans la première école de Francfort

Abstract

This article focuses on the reception and reinvention of the theme of “matriarchy” in the early days of the Frankfurt School. In an attempt to shed light on the little-known transmission of Engels’ evolutionary conceptions of primitive societies to the Frankfurt School, I question the surprising survival of the notion of “matriarchy” in the context of its questioning and complexification by ethnologists. I examine the epistemic, historical, and political ways in which the theme has been maintained and transformed, distinguishing two main periods: the first, from 1923 to 1931, under the aegis of Carl Grünberg, and the second, from 1931 to 1938, under the influence of Erich Fromm’s research program. While an evolutionary conception of social development characterises the former, the latter is characterised by a “culturalist” turn, which goes hand in hand with the attempt to “liberate” the matriarchal hypothesis from a literal understanding.

Keywords

• inequality
• Frankfurt School
• Fromm (Erich)
• Grünberg (Carl)
• matriarchy