Theories on the origins of the family
The most diverse hypotheses have been formulated on the origins of the family. Some philosophers have wanted to apply to human sciences the principles that Darwin had formulated for the natural sciences and according to which every living being must necessarily go through successive stages in the course of its development. Human society would have known, in the past, a "barbaric" period similar to that currently experienced by "savage" peoples, before reaching the level of civilization that the Western world is experiencing today. The family would not have escaped this process, which is common to all human institutions. According to this theory, the family structures of archaic populations that have survived to the present day must be regarded as early stages in the evolution of modern societies.
Many primitive societies have a matriarchal form of organization in which kinship is transmitted through women, who then play a determining role in the social domain.
It should be noted that, generally, this form of social organization does not present itself in such a way that it can be considered as the reverse of the society of the patriarchal type. Indeed, the importance given to women is based on the particular value attributed to descent and, therefore, to motherhood: in most matrilineal societies, as Malinovsky underlined in his studies on the populations of the islands. Melanesian, authority over parents is entrusted to the maternal uncle. On the other hand, in the public domain, women never play a role equivalent to that of men in patriarchal societies.
The examples of peoples in which the matriarchal allows women to enjoy prerogatives, whether with regard to property rights or <<political>> life, are in fact very rare. Among the best-known cases, most anthropologists cite the Iroquois, studied by Morgan in the middle of the last century, the Pueblos, and the Khasi of Assam. Women were the first to own farmland and dwellings and were the heads of many important ceremonial organizations. They had the right of veto during the election of a leader, but could not nevertheless claim. as such, nor occupy a place in the Supreme Council. On the other hand, among the Pueblos, the rights of women were limited to the ownership of the house.
Bachofen interprets the matriarchal in a strictly evolutionary fashion. According to him, all the societies would have been matriarchal at the origin, they would have gradually been converted to the patriarchal regime. However, all would have gone through a period of transition
in groups governed by matriarchy, the most important male figure for the child is that of the maternal uncle. This one living in the same house as the mother is indeed very close to this one. Having noted the importance of the mother's brother in a patriarchal society, some have seen this tradition as proof of the historical anticipation of the matriarchal.
According to theorists of social evolutionism, matriarchy was necessary for nomadic populations, who devoted themselves to hunting and herding. Having not yet discovered the techniques specific to cultivating the land, the men left to hunt, defend the tribe or lead the herds to pasture; the women, who as a whole constituted an element of social stability, remained inside the camps with their children. which inevitably grew up in the maternal sphere. Little by little, the development of agriculture offered men more sedentary living conditions and obliged fathers to pass on to their sons the techniques they had learned throughout their lives. This phenomenon, according to evolutionists, would be one of the primary causes of the progressive installation of the patriarchy. The proof of the existence of a transitional period between these two systems of family organization would lie in the presence of certain societies, such as the Kwakiutl of British Columbia, which are today in the process of replacing matriarchy with matriarchy. This thesis, formulated in the last century, is difficult to verify, such as the passage from nomadism to agriculture. Nonetheless, without wanting to follow evolutionary patterns. we must recognize that certain structures adapt better than others to given living conditions and that they, therefore, tend to spread. It is generally the case of matriarchy in nomadic populations, and of patriarchy in a sedentary society.
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