Riane Eisler (born July 22, 1931) is an Austrian-born American systems scientist, attorney, and author known for her work on gender, family, economics, and social evolution. She pioneered the “partnership” and “domination” models of society in The Chalice and the Blade (1987). Eisler’s research spans anthropology, neuroscience, and economics, advocating for caring-based economic systems. She is the editor-in-chief of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies. She leads the Center for Partnership Systems, promoting equity, sustainability, and social transformation. Eisler discusses her journey from childhood as a refugee to her multidisciplinary research on societal structures. She critiques domination-based systems, arguing that they perpetuate trauma and devalue care. Eisler highlights historical and contemporary examples of partnership-oriented societies, including the Nordic nations and ancient Çatalhöyük. She challenges economic models that ignore caregiving and advocates for a “caring economics of partners.” Emphasizing the role of storytelling in reshaping cultural narratives, she calls for systemic change. Eisler concludes by stressing the need for a universal income within a partnership framework, arguing that it can transform societal norms and economic distribution.
Riane Eisler: She was confused. My childhood experiences as a child refugee with my parents, fleeing from the Nazis—when I witnessed violence, insensitivity, and cruelty—led me to questions that most of us have asked at some point in our lives: Does it have to be this way? Because we humans have such an enormous capacity for caring, sensitivity, and empathy.
It is part of our evolution. For creativity? So why has there been so much destructiveness, cruelty, and violence? Of course, I have not tried to answer these questions for many years. My life has been like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle coming together. But my calling was truly to answer that question. My work is multidisciplinary, and I emphasize multidisciplinary because it is about connecting the dots—something that is very hard to do in our siloed educational system, which we have inherited from more rigid, domination-based times.
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