Discussion

Family & Intimate Relationships: History

Think about one of your primary intimate relationship

Is that history important?

How far back should we go to better understand our present?

What do we look for in that past?

What about history of the humanity – can it be insightful?

Do you think it has been influenced by

the history of your prior relationships?

What is Prehistory

▪ Period before formal writing and record of human events

▪ Knowledge of that time is based on archeological data

▪ Evidence goes 30,000 years BCE

Nature of Peoples’ Relationships in Prehistoric Times

Paleolithic (30,000 - 10,000 BCE)

Paleo = Old

Lithic = Stone

Prehistoric Cultures

▪ Evidence suggests that people most likely lived in nomadic tribes

▪ Used stones to make tools

Social structure

Egalitarian: all people were politically, socially, &

economically equal

Partnership: cooperation & sharing

Horizontal: absence of dominance & oppression

Ideology: Matriarchy

▪ Women were assigned special status

▪ They were revered for their ability to give birth

Prehistoric Cultures: Paleolithic (30,000 - 10,000 BCE)

Prehistoric Cultures: Matriarchy (30,000 - 10,000 BCE)

▪ Women considered to be magical

▪ Were canalized into a status of Goddess

Ideology of Matriarchy ▪ Contribution of men to childbirth was unknown

▪ Did not imply that women dominated men

▪ Societies were peaceful

▪ Men and women were equal in all aspects

▪ But women were revered for their ability to birth

▪ No male figurines or images

▪ Many images of bulls

Prehistoric Cultures (30,000 - 10,000 BCE)

How did Ideology of Matriarchy Shifted to Patriarchy?

▪ It took place gradually, over 10,000 years

▪ Watch the clip “Birth of Farming”

▪ 10,000 BCE development of agriculture

▪ Farming (wheat and barley)

▪ Domestication of animals

▪ Then Iron and Bronze age – improved the tools

▪ This gradually lead to

▪ Stratification

▪ Division of labor

▪ Hierarchical structure with violence and oppression

▪ Production (of stuff) is valued over reproduction

Economy & Relationships

1818-1883

Predatory Economy

“Unregulated profit-seeking

corporations cannot be trusted to

protect the Public, because their

main objective is to make profits,

not to be a do-gooder for the

Public. Whenever profit-making

conflicts with the Public interest,

profit-making wins! Thus they

become Predators on the Public,

not Protectors of the Public.”

▪ Are we more connected? If so, in what ways?

▪ Did IR divide us as well?

▪ What did we gain? What did we loose?

▪ Did we "progressed" today or "regressed" in compare to how people built relationships in the past?

▪ What is your definition of progress?

▪ Should we have a class discussion on Zoom?

Information Revolution

How it influenced the quality and nature of people relations ?