Women-at-Risk: Gift Economy’s Possibilities and Matriarchal Social System Worldwide*, Documentary, 60 min. 2016

Inequalities between women and men globally remain strong, and women face multiple forms of discrimination because of their gender. Many cultural and social practices make possible this unequal treatment. The document is historically important because it collects together the theory, research and experiences about the gift-based, woman-appreciating cultures that offer humanity hope. The film talks about tribal people who embrace the matrilineal societal system and also live in a kind of gift economy. In April 2015 I participated at the Maternal Roots of the Gift Economy Conference in Rome. I interviewed for the document many professors and researchers. At the same time, the documentary is a story about women who are in a particularly vulnerable position (women-at-risk), and also about two different tribes, Khasis (India) and Owambos (Namibia); they also embrace the matriarchal social system. It is important in our times to contrast the patriarchal and matriarchal cultures as a matter of the very survival of our planet’s conditions of life, dignity and survival.