CfP: Matrix 5(2) Matriculture: From Concept to Application OPEN CALL

Volume 5, Issue 2 (Autumn 2026)
CALL FOR PAPERS
Deadline for Abstract Submission: Monday, 19 January 2026
Theme: Matriculture: From Concept to Application (Open Call)

Broadly understood, matriculture is a Geertzian cultural framework of symbols and meanings pertaining to women.

As a concept and methodology with tremendous potential for moving forward, though, matriculture deserves a deeper exploration. The community of scholars working closely with the term has developed the following understanding: 

• The term ‘matriculture’ refers to the system of symbols which in any society pertains to women, the maternal, and the feminine. This system of symbols (this matriculture) creates a shared ‚language,‘ so to speak, to describe, interpret, and reflect social reality – a model of reality – as well as prescribing and shaping social behaviour – a model for reality. 

The concept as it is used here was developed by Marie-Francoise Guédon and is based on Clifford Geertz‘ cultural systems theory. Any given society can be studied through the lens of its matriculture, which places the lived experience of women and their associated economic, emotional, cultural, and political roles at the centre of the analysis. While women’s lives are central to the concept, it gains its power due to its pervasive presence throughout a culture. The system of symbols as a model of and for reality positions women in flourishing or diminishing social and political roles; what the system also associates with women is consequently perceived as increasing or diminishing in return.

Guédon’s concept of matriculture does not replace specific descriptions such as matrilineal, matriarchal, or matrifocal; it does not describe a particular feature of a society, but is intended as a research tool. That is, as a conceptual framework according to which a scholar can examine and compare the body of symbols, meanings, and social relationships pertaining to women from a range of societies. In this use of the term, no society is described as a matriculture, but – like religion or artwork – every society possesses a cultural system pertaining to women that we call matriculture.

For this issue of Matrix, we invite contributions that explore the concept’s application to any culture or society worldwide; we are casting the net wide open, looking to clarify and deepen understanding of the concept and broaden its application. How would this concept illuminate your work? Drawing on insights from ethnology, history, anthropology, Indigenous studies, legal studies, religious studies, linguistics, and creative arts, we welcome contributions from scholars, community members, public servants, non-government organizations, Indigenous organizations, artists, and practitioners.

We strongly encourage creative artworks of any media and personal reflections on this theme. Don’t be limited by our imaginations! Potential topics may include the following:

• Women’s roles in environmental stewardship, land rights, and resource governance; for example, does a culture hold a special relationship between women and the natural world? If so, how is this portrayed and justified culturally?
• Women’s leadership in governance, community decision-making, and legal traditions; for example, are women considered suitable social leaders in a culture? Is their status changing (whether positively or negatively) and, if so, how are these changes portrayed and justified culturally?
• Women’s roles in celebrations, festivals, ritual life, and spiritual leadership; for example, what are the traditional or new religious roles available to women? Or, are there female divinities and what relationships do women have with them?
• Impacts of colonialism, state interventions, and militarization on gender roles; for example, have women’s roles in decolonization movements led to a transformation of acceptable social or political roles for them? How might this transformation be understood? Do women have particular cultural positions which support decolonization and, if so, how?
• Ethnographic and ethnohistorical accounts of women’s lived experiences
• Myths, legends, and oral histories that reflect or resist matricultural paradigms
• Creative expressions – artworks, literary pieces, reflections, videos – exploring women’s experiences

Submission via email to: Please submit a 200-word abstract (max) and a 50-word biography to Linnéa Rowlatt, Managing Editor, at lrowlatt[at]networkonculture.ca, or to the Editorial Collective of Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies at info[at]networkonculture.ca with the Subject line ‘Matrix Vol. 5(2) Abstract Submission.’

Deadline for Abstract Submission: Monday, 19 January 2026

About Matrix

Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies is an open access, peer-reviewed and refereed journal published by the International Network for Training, Education, and Research on Culture (Network on Culture), Canada. Matrix is published online through Open Journal System on a biannual basis.

For many years, scholarship has explored the expression and role of women in culture from various perspectives such as kinship, economics, ritual, etc, but so far, the idea of approaching culture as a whole, taking the female world as primary, as a cultural system in Geertz’ classical sense of the term – a matriculture – has gone unnoticed. Some cultures have a weakly defined matricultural system; others have strong matricultural systems with various ramifications that may include, but are not limited to, matrilineal kinship, matrilocality, matriarchal governance features – all of which have serious consequences relative to the socio-cultural status of women, men, children, and the entire community of humans, animals, and the environment.

The main objective of Matrix is to provide a forum for those who are working from this theoretical stance. We encourage submissions from scholars, community members, and other knowledge keepers from around the world who are ready to take a new look at the ways in which people – women and men, historically and currently – have organized themselves into meaningful relationships; the myths, customs, and laws which support these relationships; and the ways in which researchers have documented and perhaps mis-labeled the matricultures they encounter.

For more information, visit our website: https://www.networkonculture.ca/activities/matrix.

Source: CfP Matrix 5(2) Matriculture: From Concept to Application OPEN CALL, H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US.