Riane Eisler
on True Partnerships and a Caring Economy
Riane Eisler is a walking story.
But there are two sides to every story – and you cannot talk about Riane without talking about David Loye, her life-long companion and partner. They met, fell in love, and built an unbreakable bond.
A social systems scientist, cultural historian, and futurist, whose research, writing, and speaking have transformed the lives of people worldwide, Riane is the recipient of many honours, such as the Distinguished Peace Leadership Award earlier given to the Dalai Lama, or the inclusion in the Great Peacemakers books as one of 20 leaders for world peace, along with Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King.
A legend who pioneered the application of human rights standards to women and children and addressed the UN General Assembly on the “partnership” model introduced by her work:
“Underlying the great surface diversity of human culture are two basic models of society. The first one, the Dominator model, is popularly termed as either patriarchy or matriarchy, the ranking of one half of humanity over the other. The second, in which social relations are based on the principle of linking rather than ranking, may be described as the Partnership model.”
The author of many books, including The Chalice and the Blade, The Real Wealth of Nations or Sacred Pleasure, she documented the key role of women’s status in a nation’s quality of life and demonstrated the economic value of caring for people and for nature.
Still, the most fascinating and inspiring element in Riane’s life is that she does what she preaches and actually lives that way: “Partnership” is the word that accompanies her daily life, reflected by her touching love story. Well-known evolutionary systems psychologist David Loye, author of Darwin's Lost Theory and The Healing of a Nation, has been Riane’s main #inspirator.
Only those who love well have the willingness and power to live well.
Their book, 3000 Years of Love captures the essence of their companionship, their adventures, travels and shared passion to build a more equitable and caring world. Coming from two completely different backgrounds (an Oklahoma family and a Jewish family that fled Europe from the Nazis) they found in each other, as Riane says, their “real homes.”
Discover an inspiring and touching story of two unusual people whose lives span almost a century, one that helps us see how powerful love can be when both partners look in the same direction in life.
Love well and follow Riane Eisler’s work at the Center for Partnership Systems!
Thank you, Riane, for being a True Partner!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Riane Eisler
Company / Institution: Center for Partnership Systems
Title: President and Co-Founder
Website: https://centerforpartnership.org/ ; https://rianeeisler.com/
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rianeeisler/
Country of origin: Vienna, Austria
Country you currently live in: United States of America (California)
Your personal definition of Regeneration: Shifting from Domination Systems to Partnership Systems.
Main business challenge you face: Fundraising!
Main driver that keeps you going: Passion for my work and the impact it can have.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Persistence.
The trait you most value in others: Kindness.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Nature, my children, my grandchildren, my work.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
My mother, my husband - David Loye, and all those working for a better future.
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the regeneration journey: To quote Einstein, “We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them.”
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: We have created more Partnership-oriented cultures before, and we can do so now.
Books that had a major impact on you:
David Loye’s books on moral sensitivity and also on what Darwin really had to say about human cultural evolution, such as The River and the Star, The Glacier and The Flame, and Darwin’s Lost Theory had a major impact on me.
I have been impacted by many writings, such as those by Buckminster Fuller, Jane Goodall, Carol Gilligan and others.
Doing the research deriving from my multi-disciplinary study of societies resulted in many “aha” moments for me and for others who have read The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future.
Must-reads for any Regenerative professional: The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics.
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Nature documentaries are my favourites as well as those about the lives of courageous people.
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts etc. you visit frequently: I do a lot of podcasts all over the world.
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, operas, etc.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Italy is my favourite place and I have been there many times. This said, I have travelled all over the world, and every place has left a mark on me.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow: Anyone who is writing or talking about the evidence of a more Partnership-oriented past, and working on the Four Cornerstones that are foundational to systems transformation and hence regeneration:
· childhood & family (because of what we know about neuroscience);
· gender (because it is a key economic and social organizing principle, as in the devaluation we inherited from more rigid Domination times of caring for people and nature);
· economics (because we need a new economics - a caring economics of Partnerism that values and adequately rewards caring for people, starting at birth, and caring for our natural life support systems);
· story and language (because they shape our paradigm and hence what we think is possible.)
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: There are trends toward Partnership in all of the Four Cornerstones of either Partnership or Domination-oriented cultures, but they are disconnected and many of them are seen as secondary, whereas they are really crucial to systems transformation and hence a better future.
Associations, business clubs, tribes you belong to – and why:
The Club of Rome
The Council on Extended Intelligence (CXI) organized by the IEEE and MIT
The advisory board of the Earth Island Institute
The World Future Council in Hamburg, Germany.
These are all, in one way or another, working for a Partnership future.
Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses, trainings, or certifications that really teach us how to have an impact: Changing Our Story, Changing Our Lives online course offered by the Center for Partnerships Systems.
It’s a series of four videos and many resources on our past, present and the possibilities for our future. It’s available at https://www.learnpartnership.org/ and can be reused for other networks by those who take it.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: There is a strong movement toward the Partnership side of the Partnership-domination social scale in bits and pieces, from the environmental and women’s movements globally to the racial and economic and social justice movements, but what is still lacking is an integrated partnership political, economic, and social agenda (see Changing Our Story, Changing Our Lives online course.)
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Ironically those pushing us back to more rigid Domination times have an integrated agenda, focusing on the Four Cornerstones identified by research as foundational to either Partnership or Domination-oriented systems.
They pay particular attention to maintaining or reinstating traditions of domination in our family relations, gender relations, economics, and stories/language. They see the connection between an authoritarian, male-dominated, punitive family and an authoritarian, male-dominated, and punitive state. They recognize and promote a gendered system of values in which caring for people and nature is not funded. They produce high levels of stress and fear - from early family experiences to the artificial creation of economic scarcity. They insist that we are hard-wired for selfishness, war, rape and greed - even though neuroscience debunks this story, whether it’s original sin or selfish genes.
This attention to the fundamentals on which domination systems keep rebuilding themselves can be seen in cultures or sub-cultures that are Eastern or Western, modern or ancient, Rightist or Leftist, or religious (like the Taliban, ISIS and the US “Rightist Fundamentalist Alliance”) or secular (like Putin’s Russia or Kim Jong Un’s North Korea).
Progressives need a whole-systems agenda based on a Partnership-oriented narrative of our past, present, and the possibilities for our future that no longer marginalize the majority of humanity – women and children – to counter regressions to Domination worldwide and build a more equitable, sustainable, and caring socio-economic Partnership system.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: An open mind, kindness, willingness to change, take chances, and love.
Quote that inspires you:
“We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created them.”
(Albert Einstein)
Your own quote that will inspire us:
