Dr Riane Eisler has had a profound impact on my life and it was such an honour to speak with her. Dr Riane is a cultural historian, social systems scientist, futurist and author. She is best known for The Chalice and the Blade and for Sacred Pleasure - a visionary exploration of sex, myth, and the politics of the body that was published 31 years ago and reads as though it were written for this very time.At the heart of our conversation is the framework Dr Riane created - Cultural Transformation Theory, which offers that the more fundamental question beneath all of our political and social categories is this - does a society organise itself around domination, or around partnership? Domination systems rely on rigid gender hierarchies, fear and violence beginning in the family. Partnership systems begin from a different premise entirely - that power can be power with rather than power over, and that caring roles are the foundation of society.We also explore how domination has been woven into our erotic imagination — into myth, religion, fairy tales, and pornography — and what it would mean to find our way back to a sexuality rooted in empathy and connection rather than performance and conquest. As Riane shared - the sexual revolution of the 1960s offered real opening, but a culture without sexual ethics is not liberation.Her depth of knowledge and her unique viewpoint as a true elder, she offers context for the times we are in. That the current regression we’re experiencing, is pushback to all movements that have been challenging domination.In this conversation we explore:Dr Riane's incredible personal story and how her childhood experiences planted the seeds of a lifetime's workCultural Transformation Theory and the partnership and domination lens that cuts through our inherited political categories and connects the dotsHow domination has been woven into our erotic imagination, through myth, religion, fairy tales, and pornography, and what a genuine sexual evolution might look likeThe context for the times we are living in and through the cultural transformation lensThe four cornerstones of cultureThe radical and still-urgent vision of Sacred Pleasure - and why a book published 31 years ago feels more relevant than everThis conversation only scratched the surface of what Dr Riane's work holds - and there is so much more I wanted to explore with her. I really encourage you to read Sacred Pleasure. It is a potent and I feel essential book.Sacred Pleasure is an exploration of how sexuality, the body, and pleasure have been shaped, and distorted, by the shift from partnership to domination cultures. Drawing on archaeology, mythology, religion and history, she traces how what was once considered sacred - the erotic, the feminine, the body's capacity for pleasure and connection, was systematically vilified, controlled, and weaponised as domination systems took hold.She shows how pain, submission, and violence became eroticised through religion, myth, law, and culture, and how this distortion runs through everything from fairy tales to pornography to the way we understand romantic love.The book is visionary, as Dr Riane writes, that reclaiming the erotic and the body as sacred, is not only personally liberating but politically and culturally transformative and how that would shape a genuinely partnership-oriented world.Riane Eisler, JD, PhD(h), is the recipient of many honors, such as the Distinguished Peace Leadership Award earlier given to the Dalai Lama, and internationally known for her groundbreaking contributions as a systems scientist, futurist, and cultural historian. She is author of many books, including The Chalice and the Blade, now in its 57th US printing and 27 foreign editions, The Real Wealth of Nations, hailed by Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu as "a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking," and Nurturing Our Humanity, Oxford University Press, 2019, co-authored with Douglas P. Fry.Eisler’s innovative whole-systems research offers new perspectives and practical tools for constructing a less violent, more egalitarian, gender-balanced, and sustainable future. Eisler is President of the Center for Partnership Systems (CPS), which provides practical applications of her work, and Editor in Chief of the online Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies published at the University of Minnesota. She keynotes conferences worldwide, has taught at many universities, has written hundreds of articles and contributions to both scholarly and popular books, pioneered the application of human rights standards to women and children, has addressed the UN General Assembly, and consults to businesses and governments on the partnership model introduced by her work.RESOURCES FROM RIANEWebsite — rianeeisler.comPeace Begins at Home SummitThe Chalice and the Blade — Riane EislerSacred Pleasure — Riane EislerThe Real Wealth of Nations — Riane EislerNurturing Our Humanity — ...
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