Riane Eisler

Macrohistory and Macrohistorians named Riane Eisler as one of the twenty most important long-range thinkers in the world. She is the author of Chalice and The Blade, which traced the evolution of social consciousness, that started as agrarian 'partnership societies' that were egalitarian in nature, but were overrun by people from more arid regions of the world that used violence, manipulation and fear to subdue their conquests. The book discusses how the latter approach is still prevalent in today's society. According to Margaret Wolff, Riane Eisler "promoted social development through gender balance and multiculturalism, and demonstrated viable governing alternatives based on cooperation and mutual regard." Born in Vienna, her family narrowly escaped the Holocaust, where most of her relatives were exterminated, which became the basis of her life's work probing the origins of cruelty and violence. Her family sought refuge in Cuba and then in the US. She studied sociology, anthropology as an undergraduate and earned a law degree. She is a pioneer in the formation of women's studies programs and women's centers, and is President of the Center for Partnership Studies. Last, but not least, she is a mother and grandmother.

The passages and questions below are offered as a starting point for discussion, and are simply listed in sequential order as they appear in the book.

page 112 [Wolff] You've also written about the profound absence of connection you felt after your family settled in Cuba and the challenges you faced as a young Jewish immigrant growing up in a predominantly Catholic country. For instance, you told your classmates that the Methodist school you attended that you believed in Jesus just to keep from being further ostracized. How do you reconcile these experiences within yourself? Your feelings of not-belonging? [Eisler] "With difficulty. But one of the wonderful things that happened to me as a result of all of this disparity was that it suddenly dawned on me that there are a lot of very different ways to think about God, and that I didn't have to think only one way to be a good person."

• The theme of not-belonging shows up in the interviews with Alma Flor Ada, Reverend Lauren Artress and Olympia Dukakis. Would you describe your personal experience as one of belonging or not-belonging? Please share an example.
• How has that experience informed your spiritual beliefs?

page 113 "I also know I can only do so much. I believe in what we can all do together. I believe people bring about social and personal change. I believe we can relearn partnership rather than dominator ways of relating to each other and to our Mother Earth and thus, make this world a better place."

• If you believe that the power of the group is larger than an individual, then Riane Eisler makes a compelling argument for the need to shift towards partnership values. What do you categorize as 'partnership' values? What are typically 'dominator' values?
• I find it intriguing that Riane Eisler's perspective provides a way to balance the individual within the group/partnership – where the individual doesn't sacrifice all for the group or dominate the group, but is a valued, integral, contributing member thereby making the group more successful. What is your personal experience with this? How does this show up in your life?

page 119 [Wolff] Given your knowledge and experience, what advice would you give to others? [Eisler] "Seek your own way. We all need teachers, but I think we must pay the most attention to our inner teacher, to the authentic voice of love and sanity I believe we're all born with. I've had to unlearn a great deal in order to move forward; I've had to question much of what I'd been taught and pursue my own answers. That questioning has been the central motif of my own personal emergence as well as my scholarship."

• We've heard a similar message in other interviews that we've read in this book. What would you need to 'unlearn' to 'pursue your own answers'?

Was there a particular passage that made you stop and either consider or appreciate?