CRETA: making an egalitarian society together

Credits below

THE INSPIRATION

Even now on Earth there are still egalitarian societies, whose organization is different from the western culture, where genders are not in conflict, where violence does not exist or is very rare, where the word "rape" is untranslatable because the phenomenon itself does not exist.

They are many, all over the world. We can call them "egalitarian societies", Riane Eisler calls them "gilanic", they call themselves "matriarchy" meaning by this word something totally different from the specular opposite of "patriarchy".

They are characterized by cultural, political, social and economic models built around the absence of hierarchy and domination, in which organizational principles are based on people's needs, gender equality, the constant use of consensus in the decision making process and an active effort aimed at maintaining peace and sustainable development.
 
We are a partnership between 4 associations: "Temple of the Great Mother*", "Moons on the Lakes*", "The Red Tent in Trent*", "Slowcinema"*, all based in the Dolomites area, in the North-east of Italy.
We have decided to bring these cultural models to the knowledge of the community as our reply to the return of ignorance, hate, the celebration of violence, and the "us-them dynamic". 

But we have gone further. We asked ourselves how we could be inspired by these cultures to actually implement some of their values and methods in everyday life, here and now, to start to concretely affect change.

So the Project C.R.E.T.A. (Costruzione paRtecipata di sociEtà egualiTArie -meaning- Participated construction of egalitarian societies) began.




THE PROJECT:

Consists in 3 phases:

1- Conferences and Workshops, dedicated to the diffusion and deepening of knowledge about modern and historical egalitarian societies, as well as the maternal gift economy.

The structure of the course includes a conference on Saturday evening, open to the public with the participation of an expert, followed by a workshop on Sunday, led by a facilitator. The workshop is to deepen the theme and to reflect on the potential for application in the everyday life.

This phase begins on 30th/31st of March with Genevieve Vaughan and Daniela Degan, and will continue with Luciana Percovich, Francesca Rosati Freeman and two women from the Mosuo culture, Heide Goettner Abendroth and Andrea Fleckinger.

More informations on dates, speakers and programme are constantly updated on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/progettocreta/


2- Reflection and facilitated group work, to identify concrete strategies, practices, methods inspired by the conferences. The groups will be made on a voluntary basis and will take place in early summer. The theme of "making a egalitarian society together" will be developed starting from what has been learnt during the previous phase. Alexander Bisan will teach the groups how to communicate better and how to take decisions by the consensus method.

3- Field trials, Action research
For three months during the summer / early autumn, the participants will work to adopt the practices, methods and strategies that emerged during the previous phase. They will keep a record of the experiences to permit an evaluation of their applicability. This is the target of the research.

A final phase, led by an expert researcher, will be dedicated to the evaluation of the results obtained during the experimentation and to the creation of an information booklet about it.

The results of the research will also be shared with citizens through a final conference, which will see the participation of both women and men who have animated the project.
As a conclusive moment, a show entitled "THE CONTEMPORARY GODDESS" will be proposed.

The Province of Trent, together with the Municipality of Levico Terme, have contributed to the financing of the project, but for its complete realization we need about 2500 € more.

Even small donations would help to support it!
This is a good way for you to be agents of change with us, in a historical moment where the logic "us against you", the hatred and the idealization of violence seem to reappear again from a past we hoped we had overcome.

Because we all are, today, the ancestors of the world to come.

Further informations:

Our Facebook page 

E-mail: [email redacted]





Photo Credits: 1- Women from Moso Culture, by Francesca Rosati Freeman
2-Genevieve Vaughan, speaker
3-Heide Goettner Abendroth, speaker
4-Part of the poster of the project

*Italian names of the involved associations:
"Tempio della Grande Madre" - Roncegno Terme
"Lune sui Laghi" - Levico Terme
"Tenda Rossa a Trento" - Trento
"Slowcinema" - Borgo Valsugana