Abstract

Matrifocality, or also matricentrism, has been a particularly debated and partly strongly criticised topic in the history of anthropological studies. Nonetheless, this concept still allows us to stress several connections within studies on matrilinearity, woman-headed households, new reproductive techniques, and new family forms. In the first half of the text, I review anthropological works on matrifocality, looking in particular at the feminist debate. In the second half, starting with two short ethnographic examples, I offer a reflection on the relevance and potential of this concept in the light of new kinship studies, feminist gender anthropology and transcultural approaches to contemporaneity