The showdown of the Anthropocene seems imminent: against the backdrop of climate crisis and wars, a handful of power-hungry and unscrupulous politicians, in league with ruthless tech billionaires, threaten to drive the world into the ground. What do all these actors with unprecedented global influence have in common? Without exception, they are men. Ignoring this white elephant in the room means that all activism is futile, because it is not humans who have the Earth in a stranglehold, but patriarchy! Overcoming it would mean tackling the most serious global problems in a concerted manner. Until recently, slavery, racism, colonialism and imperialism seemed to be ‘without alternative’, but they have been largely overcome because they have been exposed as abuses unworthy of the human species. Why should this not also be possible with patriarchy?
In her passionate essay, Gertraud Klemm takes matriarchal societies from the past and present as a model for her announcement of Farewell to the Phallocene – a powerful thought experiment on matriarchal inspiration, patriarchal deconstruction and the necessity of colonial reversal.
"Let us recognize patriarchy for what it is: a fatal programming error at the core of our seemingly humanistic paradigm. Its superpower is abuse; its legacy is destruction."
Non-fiction
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Gertraud Klemm, born in Vienna in 1971, grew up in Baden near Vienna, studied biology and worked as a hygiene consultant for the City of Vienna until 2005. Since then, she has been living with her family as a freelance author in Pfaffstätten, Lower Austria. She writes novels, plays, guest commentaries and essays for Austrian newspapers and gives speeches on the current state of women's politics.
