2016/04/29

Riane Eisler

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Riane Tennenhaus Eisler
Born	Vienna, Austria
Other names	Riane Eisler
Alma mater	University of California
Known for	The Chalice and the Blade(1988)
Notable awards	1992 Shaler Adams Foundation Award^[1] 1996 ERA Education Award 2009 Distinguished Peace Leadership Award 2013 International Women's Leadership Pioneer Award^[2]
Spouse	David Loye
Website www.rianeeisler.com

Riane Tennenhaus Eisler (born July 22, 1931) is a cultural historian, systems scientist, educator, attorney, speaker, and author whose work on cultural transformation has inspired scholars and social activists. Her research has impacted many fields, including history, literature, philosophy, art, economics, psychology, sociology, education, organizational development, political science, and healthcare. Eisler was born in Vienna, fled from the Nazis with her parents to Cuba as a small child, and later emigrated to the United States. She obtained degrees in sociology and law from UCLA; taught pioneering classes on women and the law at UCLA; and now teaches in the graduate Transformative Leadership Program at theCalifornia Institute of Integral Studies. She is Editor in Chief of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies at the University of Minnesota and President of the Center for Partnership Studies, dedicated to research and education on the partnership model introduced by Eisler’s research.

Partnership and domination models[edit]

Eisler proposes that new social paradigms are needed that transcend the limitations of conventional social categories such as religious vs. secular, right vs. left, capitalist vs. communist, East vs. West, and pre-industrial vs. industrial or post-industrial. She notes that societies in all these categories have been repressive and violent, and that none answer the question of what kinds of institutions and beliefs support more equitable and peaceful relations. In addressing this question, Eisler’s multidisciplinary, cross-cultural research resulted in a new conceptual framework for understanding and improving social systems: the partnership-domination continuum. The identification of the partnership model and the domination modelas two underlying social configurations requires a new analytical approach that includes social features that are currently ignored or marginalized, such as the social construction of human/nature connections, parent/child relations, gender roles and relations, and the way we assess the value of the work of caring for people and nature.

Domination Culture[edit]

She introduced the term domination culture to describe a system of top-down rankings ultimately backed up by fear or force - man over man, man over woman, race over race, religion over religion, and man over nature. The configuration of the domination system has four mutually supporting core components: Top-down control in both families and states or tribes, and all institutions in between; Rigid male dominance—and with this, the devaluation by both men and women of anything stereotypically considered “feminine,” including care and caregiving; The acceptance, even idealization, of violence as a means of imposing one’s will on others; A system of beliefs that presents relations of dominating or being dominated as inevitable and desirable. Examples of societies that orient closely to the domination model include Nazi Germany,Khomeini's Iran, and earlier cultures where chronic violence and despotic rule were the norm.^[3]

Partnership Society[edit]

By contrast, the configuration of the partnership system consists of the following four mutually supporting core components: A more democratic and egalitarian structure in both the family and state or tribe; equal partnership between women and men, and with this, a high valuing in women and men, as well as in social and economic policy of traits and activities stereotypically considered feminine such as care and caregiving; a low degree of abuse and violence, because they are not needed to maintain rigid rankings of domination; A system of beliefs that presents relations of partnership and mutual respect as normal and desirable.
Examples of partnership-oriented societies include the Teduray, a tribal society studied by the University of California anthropologist Stuart Schlegel;^[4] agrarian societies such as the Minangkabau, studied by the University of Pennsylvania anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday;^[5] and technologically advanced ones like Sweden, Norway, and Finland, where there is a more democratic and egalitarian structure in both the family and the state, more equal partnership between men and women (for example, women are 40-50 percent of national legislators), and more caring social policies such as universal health care, paid parental leave, and high quality early childhood education, as well as the rejection of violence in both intimate and international relations.^[6]

Partnership/Domination Continuum[edit]

In comparing partnership and domination systems, Eisler analyzes the androcracy (governance of social organization dominated by males) of Indo-European and other societies, versus greater orientation to the partnership model (as distinct from matriarchy) for the social organization of Neolithic Europe and the later Minoan civilization that flourished in prehistoric Bronze Age Crete.
To support the idea that neither men nor women dominated one another, Eisler cites archeological evidence from southeast Europe, especially Crete, drawing much from the research of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, James Mellaart, Nikolaos Platon, Vere Gordon Childe, and Nanno Marinatos. She also draws heavily from cross-cultural studies, such as Douglas P. Fry's work on foraging cultures that orient to the partnership model, noting that for most of our history humans lived in foraging groups.
Her work has allowed many other scholars to apply partnership/domination and cultural transformation conceptual frameworks to fields ranging from politics and economics to religion, business, and education.^[7]
No society orients completely to a domination system or a partnership system. It is always a matter of degree in what Eisler calls a partnership-domination continuum. But with these configurations in mind, much that otherwise seems random and disconnected begins to fall into place – including how economic systems have been developed, as Eisler documents in The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics , as well as in many articles and book chapters, including “Economics as If Caring Matters” in Challenge.

Books[edit]

Eisler's international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future (Harper Collins San Francisco, 1987) was hailed by anthropologist Ashley Montagu as "the most important book since Darwin's Origin of Species (sic). The book has sold 500,000 copies. It has been translated into 26 languages, including most European languages and Chinese, Turkish, Russian, Korean, Hebrew, Japanese, and Arabic.
Her 2007 book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics, proposes a new approach to economics that gives visibility and value to the essential human work of caring for people and the planet. It has been hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking,” Peter Senge as “desperately needed,” and by Gloria Steinem as “revolutionary.”
In 2014, Eisler co-authored Transforming Interprofessional Partnerships: A New Framework for Nursing and Partnership-Based Health Care with University of Minnesota professor Teddie Potter, which provides healthcare professionals with the tools to re-examine current healthcare systems and build a more caring, sustainable system. *The book was the winner of the 2015 Capstone International Book Award and a 2014 American Journal of Nursing Book Award.
Eisler's other books include the award-winning The Power of Partnership and Tomorrow’s Children, as well as Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body – New Paths to Power and Love, an exploration of the origins of human violence, and Women, Men, and the Global Quality of Life, which statistically documents the key role of the status of women in a nation’s general quality of life.

Documentaries[edit]

In 2011, Tiroir A Films (TAF) based their documentary, Mother, Caring for 7 Billion on the theories of Riane Eisler.

Activities[edit]

Riane Eisler keynotes conferences worldwide, and is a consultant to business and government on applications of the partnership model introduced in her work. International venues have included Germanyat the invitation of Prof. Rita Süssmuth, President of the Bundestag (the German Parliament) and Daniel Goeudevert (Chair of Volkswagen International); Colombia, invited by the Mayor of Bogota; and the Czech Republic, invited by Václav Havel (President of the Czech Republic). In 2013, Eisler was invited to speak during a Congressional Briefing on "The Economic Return from Investing in Care Work and Early Childhood Education"^[8] and to speak for the United States State Department.^[9]
Riane Eisler is a founding member of the General Evolution Research Group (GERG), a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and World Business Academy, a member of the Club of Rome,^[10] and a Councilor of the World Future Council in Europe (link) She is a member of the World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality^[11] along with the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and other spiritual leaders. She is also co-founder of the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV). She is the president of the Center for Partnership Studies, dedicated to research and education. In 2003 she was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto, an initiative of the Center for Partnership Studies, dedicated to research and education.^[12]
She is the author of over 300 essays and articles in publications ranging from Behavioral Science, Futures, Political Psychology, and The UNESCO Courier to Brain and Mind, Yes!, the Human Rights Quarterly, The International Journal of Women's Studies, and the World Encyclopedia of Peace.
Eisler was one of the founders of the Women's Rights Law Reporter, the first legal periodical to focus exclusively on women's rights. She is also an active Global Council Member at the International Museum of Women.^[13]

Influence[edit]

Riane Eisler inspired Professor Min Jiayin of the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to publish and edit The Chalice and the Blade in Chinese Culture (published in 1995 by China Social Sciences Publishing House).^[14] Min Jiayin's book tested Eisler's cultural transformation theory in Chinese culture, and found that there was also a shift from partnership to domination in Asian prehistory.
In her 2008 book, Gender and Information Technology: Moving Beyond Access to Co-Create Global Partnership, Mary Kirk uses Eisler's cultural transformation theory to offer an interdisciplinary, social systems perspective on issues of access to technology.^[15] Gender and Information Technology explores how shifting from dominator towards partnership systems—as reflected in four primary social institutions (communication, media, education, and business)--might help us move beyond the simplistic notion of access to co-create a real digital revolution worldwide.^[15]
Riane Eisler inspired Professor Antonella Riem and a group of scholars based at the University of Udine, to develop significant multi- and inter-disciplinary research, which investigates the presence and meaning of partnership/dominator configurations within World Literatures in English, Language, Education and Arts.

Honors[edit]

Eisler has received many honors, including the Humanist Pioneer Award and the first Alice Paul ERA award.^[16] She received the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Distinguished Peace Leadership Award for "demonstrating courageous leadership in the cause of peace".^[17] She was the only woman selected for inclusion in Macrohistory and Macrohistorians for her work as a cultural historian and evolutionary theorist.^[18] Eisler also serves on the Advisory Council of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Center for Partnership Studies[edit]

The Center for Partnership Studies (CPS), located in Pacific Grove, CA., was established in 1987 for the purpose of researching, developing, and disseminating education on the partnership model as developed by Riane Eisler.

Caring Economy Campaign[edit]

The Caring Economy Campaign is a project of the Center for Partnership studies that is focused on building a partnership system with clear measures of the economic benefits of the work of caring for people and nature. To that end, the Caring Economy Campaign has developed Social Wealth Economic Indicators (SWEIs) to help guide policy-makers in developing an economic system that takes into account unpaid or underpaid labor, overall health and wellbeing, and the general welfare of the population.^[19]

SAIV: The Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence[edit]

The mission of The Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV) is to stop intimate violence — the training ground for the violence of war, terrorism, political repression, and crime. SAIV was founded by Riane Eisler with Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams and is a project of the Center for Partnership Studies, a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization by the United Nations.

Bibliography[edit]

Dissolution: NoFault Divorce, Marriage, and the Future of Women. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977.
The Equal Rights Handbook: What ERA means for your life, your rights, and your future. New York: Avon, 1979.
The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. ISBN 0-06-250289-1
Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body. San Francisco: Harper, 1996. ISBN 0-06-250283-2
The Partnership Way: New Tools for Living and Learning, with David Loye, Holistic Education, 1998ISBN 0-9627232-9-0
Tomorrow's Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education in the 21st Century (2000)
The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships that will Change Your Life (2002)
Educating for a Culture of Peace (2004)
The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007. ISBN 978-1-57675-388-0

References[edit]

^ http://www.partnershipway.org/news-media-room/press-releases-and-press-kits/press-kit#awards-and-accolades
^ http://events-womensleadership.com/award-winners/
^ Eisler, Riane (1988-09-21). The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future (First ed.). New York, NY: HarperOne. ISBN 9780062502896.
^ Schlegel, S. (1988). Wisdom From A Rainforest. University of Georgia Press.
^ Sanda, P.R. (2002). Women at the Center. Cornell University Press.
^ Eisler, Riane (2007). Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. Berrett-Koehler.
^ Eisler, Raine (June 4, 2015). "Human Possibilities: The Interaction of Biology and Culture".Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies. University of Minnesota.
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHPgcDBNTf4
^ http://pubs.lib.umn.edu/ijps/
^ http://www.clubofrome.org/?p=5916
^ http://www.globalspirit.org/councils.html
^ "Notable Signers". Humanism and Its Aspirations. American Humanist Association. RetrievedSeptember 15, 2012.
^ International Museum of Women Global Council, http://imow.org/about/globalcouncil/index
^ http://www.amazon.com/The-chalice-blade-Chinese-culture/dp/7500417411
^ ^a ^b Kirk, Mary. (2008). Gender and Information Technology: Moving Beyond Access to Co-Create Global Partnership. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. ISBN 978-1-59904-786-7
^ http://americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2011-10-film-review-mother-caring-for-7-billion
^ "Distinguished Peace Leadership Award". Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Retrieved 24 December2012.
^ http://www.metafuture.org/Books/MacrohistoryandMacrohistorians.htm
^ http://caringeconomy.org/about/

External links[edit]

2016/04/28

The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future (9780062502896): Riane Eisler: Books

The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars
Offering an Optimistic Alternative
By Missing in Action on November 20, 2001

Books like this, if read by a broad enough audience, could alter the course of history. Her insights are broad, her treatments are fair, and her paradigms apparently offer some degree of validity judging from the last section of her book (before the Epilogue) in which she describes 25 years ago much of the transformation we are witnessing today.

The general thesis of her book is essentially this. The"Dominator" model of the world in which men rule not only each other, but especially women, with an iron and violent fist, is in fact an inovation that was introduced to a previously more egalitarian, Goddess-oriented civilization. The original civilizations looked at creation and recognized that the creation of life is essentially a female process, symbolized by the Chalice. It was only later when "civilization" decided that the power to take life superceded the power to give life, and replaced the Goddess with the Hero/War God (symbolized by the blade). Over the course of several centuries, the broad social paradigms shifted, and we find our ancestors of recorded history so steeped in the dominator model (as opposed to the more female "partnership" model...) that we take it for granted as simply the way we are, or worse, the way God made us.

Eisler offers for the reader's consideration the possibility that we don't have to accept the violence-laden tendencies of the dominator model anymore. With the rise of feminism in the past century, men and women alike are beginning to question the basic premise of a male-dominated society, and looking for ways to re-weave the social fabric...with some success. Indeed, perhaps enough success that we might be on the cusp of a new social transformation, moving away from the dominator model that has really only been the source of so much suffering, and toward a partnership model which values aliance and relationships more than possession and power. Unfortunately, we will be required to experience a backlash of fundamentalism for a while, as the bastions of the dominator model (monotheistic religion, communism, and capitalism) fight for their very survival.

There are disturbing bits of awareness in this book for those readers (such as myself) who have not read much in the way of feminist material. It is shocking to learn of the basic, dogmatic, written tenets of religious and contemporary philosophy (including those of St. Augustine, Marx, and Nietzsche to name a few) who directly state that the subjugation of the female sex is essential for the survival of the human species! As we watch the burka-shrouded forms of Afghani women beg in the streets of Kabul at this time, we are reminded of how real, and how insidious this objective of the dominator model truly is.

I only give this book 4 stars because there is a quality about her argument that leaves me slightly undone. Maybe it's because I, too, am a product of the old system that struggles to make the transformation. But I think it has to do with her insistance on an "absolute," i.e. that the way women would run the world is inherintly better than the way men would run the world. Her argument is founded on experience, but is therefore also limited by paradigm. The partnership models she discusses at length in the early part of her book in Neolithic times and in Minoan Crete, were systems based on the cooperation of both men and women. She acknowledges this. Yet there is this nagging sense that she insists that the virtues of such a society are the exclusive realm of the female. I am inclined to think that this is possibly a paradigm-driven bias. Such virtues are now attributed to women more than men BECAUSE of the past 6000 years of the application of the dominator model, but successful transformation is wholly dependent on a mutual transformation of both women and men to a full partnership model that benefits from the inherent strengths of BOTH men and women, not just women. For while it is nearly impossible to disagree that virtually all of the tragic events of history can be pinned to boorish, often childish, frequently violent behavior of men, that behavior is not necessarily programmed by biology so much as by socialization (of course both play a role). So to suggest that "female virtues" are inherently superior to "male qualities" is missing a big part of the picture. Men were responsible for the subjugation of women. But what other developments do we presently benefit from that sprung from the strengths of men? The key lies in her description of a "partnership," rather than on the suggestion that "one is better than the other." Truthfully, I think that this is what she intends (she is not a "man-basher"), but since her emphasis is only on the negative contributions of men, the potential for real partnership is never fully explored in this book.

That said, this is a well written, thought provoking book that, as I said at the outset, could indeed facilitate the very transformation she discusses, if people would read it, talk about it, think about it, and reflect on whether or not we as a species really think that the course we've been on is in fact a healthy one.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Riane's words needed more than ever in these dark times . .
By Janie Rezner on May 21, 2005

I'd like respond to some recent reviews that suggest Riane Eisler's work is not based on fact and that it lacks plausibility. It is quite a sweeping dismissal of a scholarly and well researched ten year work, drawing from many disciplines, from a woman whose life has been dedicated to helping us understand the mess we are in: how we got here, how violence is perpetuated, and how we can get out of it. Riane Eisler presents us with a roadmap to peace; whether we have the wisdom to understand it and respond to it is something else. Until violence against children and women has been abated there will be no peace. Violence begets violence.

Quoting from Adele Gettys "Goddess, Mother of Living Nature." "Since time immemorial our ancestors have left sacred images of the female form. From the caves of Lascaux in France to the Balkans in Eastern Europe the art and artifacts of the Paleolithic and Neolithic, which represent human's earliest myth-making impulses, indicated a deep reverence for life, and, in particular, for the Great Mother."

30,000 year old Stone Age nude figures are the first Western Goddess Representations. Twenty thousand years later, in the agricultural societies of the Neolithic (8,000----3,000 BCE) female images still predominated, indicating a remarkable, millennia-long cultural continuity. And, none were depicted with weapons. This is very important material, for to understand it means to reclaim our heritage.

In the depths of my own profound spiritual journey twenty- five years ago, awakening to the loss of the Sacred Feminine, . . . living in isolation, creating constantly . . . Riane's book came into my hands. I was amazed and heartened to learn that humanity had such a history. Like many folks, I had never heard of the Goddess or our pre-history. Barbara Walker's "The Crone" also found it's way into my hands about that time. There is Merlin Stone's well researched book, "When God Was A Woman," which fleshes out even more this picture of a harmonious, egalitarian, spiritual and immensely creative life that spanned thousands of years, before patriarchy and "father god."

The most convincing thing of all is that the religion and the temples of the Goddess, in her many names, are referred to again and again in the Bible. And, somewhere in the Koran it states, clearly with disgust, that some peoples engaged in the abomination of "worshiping women."

The research of Riane Eisler, noted anthropologist Maria Gimbutus, and more recently James DeMeo, PhD (among many, many others) drawing upon global archaeological and anthropological evidence present substantial proof that our ancient ancestors were non-violent. In his book, "Saharasia: The 4,000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence, In the Deserts of the Old World" professor DeMeo writes, "These early peoples were peaceful, unarmored, and matrist (partnership model) in character. I have concluded that there does not exist any clear, compelling or unambiguous evidence for the existence of patrism (patriarchy--dominator model) anywhere on Earth significantly prior to c.4000 BCE . . . . . . and the earliest evidence appears in specific locations, from which it first arose, diffused outward over time to infect nearly every corner of the globe."

It has been now a bit more than 2,500 years since religious myths of the sacred marriage of the Goddess and her divine lover faded from Western Cultural consciousness. Today our sacred images and myths tend to focus more on death, punishment, and pain than on sex, birth, and pleasure.

Riane writes, "One of the challenges of our time is to create for ourselves and our children images and stories of the sacred more congruent with a partnership than dominator social organization. Images and stories in which giving and receiving pleasure and caring, rather than causing or submitting to pain, occupy center stage.

For in truth we are living in a dysfunctional and antihuman system that threatens to destroy us all. At the same time, there is a new partnership system that is struggling to emerge."

In this time of regression to a harsher, more violent dominator system, Riane's wise words are needed more than ever. May we pay attention to them.

Janie Rezner, Mendocino, CA
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3.0 out of 5 stars
History or Myth? Does it Matter?
By Thomas Fulton on August 22, 1998

The Chalice and the Blade describes idyllic, Goddess-worshipping societies that Eisler believes existed several thousand years ago in eastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. She presents images of agrarian villages that had no defensive fortifications because there was no war. The communities were non-violent and egalitarian. There was no hierarchy and no sexism. There was no class system or great disparities of wealth. The people were deeply spiritual and practiced free love. They were profoundly connected to the natural world. Eventually, however, aggressive warrior nomads from the east (patriarchal peoples who worshipped male sky gods destroyed these peaceful, Goddess-worshipping communities. The warrior nomads killed the men, raped the women, and took the children as slaves. The Goddess was suppressed and the patriarchy has ruled ever since.

Reisler invites the reader to mourn the loss of ancient communities, and reconnect with their underlying values. I read the book as a life-affirming myth that challenges the abusive aspects of our patriarchal traditions. The Chalice and the Blade celebrates the value of partnership, equality, collaboration, non-violence, and connectedness to nature. Eisler gives us some sense of the enormous power to heal that resides in the repressed feminine and lunar realms. However, I would offer the following cautions:

1. It is possible that Eisler has extrapolated a few scraps of evidence into a highly idealized society that didn't really exist quite as she imagines it.

2 . It is possible that Eisler's vision is pyschologically naive in the sense that everything has a dark side. If the Goddess societies existed, they would, by necessity, have a dark side.

3. It is possible that the problem with western society is not that it has a male image of divinity but that it has a one-sided, gender-specific image of divinity. Substituting a Goddess-based image might not lead to Utopia, but might bring its own set of problems. Perhaps we need images of the divine that honor both genders.

4. Eisler is a nationally known advocate of partnership models as superior forms of human interaction in contrast to "dominator" approaches. Faced with the choice of partnership or domination, the former is clearly preferable. A more neutral way of distinguishing between these two approaches would be to substitute consensus for partnership and hierarchy for domination. It is possible that each approach - consensus and hierarchy - has its own merits and drawbacks. The negative shadow of consensus systems might be passive aggression, confusion, paralysis. It is possible that when grounded with love and respect, hierarchical systems can be generative and empowering.

I suspect that humanity would best be served by a society that reveres both male and female, earth and sky, soul and spirit, hierarchy and collaboration, passion and gentleness - a social order with a pluralistic approach that reflects mythopoetic diversity and celebrates consciousness. Yet, whatever the book's shortcomings I must confess that my heart is with Eisler.
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See all 127 customer reviews (newest first)

René Girard's Mimetic Theory

René Girard's Mimetic Theory

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars
Superlative survey of an important contemporary thinker
By Andrew Marr on March 28, 2013

This survey of René Girard's though is clear, comprehensive, and insightful to a degree that is not surpassed. in ca. 300 pages, Palaver, a longtime colleague of Girard, gives us roughly nine hundred pages worth of material. That is a way of saying that the book requires careful, reflective reading and will continue to be an invaluable reference book for anyone who works with Girard's thought.

Every stage of Girard's professional career is examined to show how his insights developed over time. Particularly valuable is the way Palaver explores the contest of Girard's thought in the intellectual and cultural world around him, featuring interactions between his thought & Freud, Marx, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Hegel & many others. Perhaps most important of all is the comparison with deconstructionist thinkers, especially Derrida. What emerges from all of the comparisons is both common ground of insights with all of these thinkers coupled with sharp, sometimes profound disagreement. The examination of these interactions greatly enriches one's understanding of Girard and equips the reader for continuing these interactions. As an excellent theologian himself, Palaver outdoes himself in his analysis of Girard's theological development, giving the reader one probing insight into the abyss of God's love as it intertwines with our mimetic world.

Since the book is focused on Girard, there is little about Girard's colleagues except for when there was direct and protracted interaction between the two, as there was with the great Innsbruck theologian Raymund Schwager.

I recommend this book without reservation to anyone who wants to explore the work of René Girard or seek understanding about the causes of human violence and what might be done about it.

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5.0 out of 5 stars
A book which provides access to Girard's theory
By Reinoud Doeschot on April 30, 2013

Beautiful analysis of Girard's theory and well written. By comparing Girard's theory with what other thinkers and writers wrote, Palaver not only provides a broad overview of ancient and modern thinking, but also produces valuable insights in the origins of violence and the relationship between violence and culture.

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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book
By Wayne Larocque on June 9, 2013

Comprehensive and probing work of Girard and the power and reach of his thought. A scholarly work that is also quite readable.

The Politics of Jesus: John Howard Yoder: 9780802807342: Amazon.com: Books

The Politics of Jesus: John Howard Yoder

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars
The most valued work of theology I own
By Hugo Schwyzer on December 14, 2001

If I had only one work of twentieth-century theology to read, this would be it (with apologies to everyone from Barth to Brueggemann to Bonhoeffer). In the aftermath of September 11, pacifism has been reviled in the public secular discourse like never before. Most Christian leaders from across the theological spectrum have endorsed one form or another of the "Just War Theory" of Augustine, Aquinas, and Calvin.

No one makes the case for the radical, total non-violence of the Christian message better than John Howard Yoder. Though he wrote many books after this one, this is by far the best place to start. Yoder's familiarity with Scripture is magisterial, and the gentle yet firm way he responds to his Catholic and Reformed critics is convincing and exciting. Most timely of all, he devotes an entire chapter to deconstructing traditional Christian interpretations of Romans 13:1-7, the passages most often cited by just war theorists to defend the use of violence by the state. Anyone who believes it is possible for a Christian to bear arms and follow Christ must respond to Yoder's analysis.

Though Yoder was a Mennonite (and though I am an Episcopalian by affiliation, I am an anabaptist in my heart), his work is catholic, orthodox, and accessible to all Christians. Yoder's death in 1997 marked the passing of the man whom I believe may well be regarded as the most important theologian of our time. As even good Christians "rally round the flag" and join in the cries for "just war" and "retributive justice", Yoder's work has never been more important as a vital theological corrective.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Jesus as the Way for the 21st century church!
By Sarah R Seaver on April 17, 2001

In an age where the Western Christian church is stuggling for a relevant witness to our rapidly changing culture, John Howard Yoder makes a solid and challenging claim that Jesus is not only relevant, but normative for social Christian ethics. Yoder convincingly illustrates that Jesus was in fact confrontive socially and politically to the powers that be in that age. Throughout the text he demonstrates that the Gospel of Lukes bears witness not to just a divine Jesus, who redeemed humanity, but also a human Jesus who incarnated the nature of God through the way of the cross. By focusing his study on the cross of Christ, he develops a challenging ethic that examplifies the love of neighbor and witness that the faithful church and disciple is called to be. I recommend this text to anyone interested in a new, fresh and challenging look to the Jesus as known in 1st century Jewish culture. This book is a must read that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in honest, Christian scholarship.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Was Jesus a Dove?
By Amazon Customer VINE VOICE on March 7, 2004

I am borrowing a term from my youth and the Viet Nam conflct when people were labeled Hawks or Doves by their reaction to war.

Yoder makes a case that Jesus was VERY political. He was not uninterested in world events around him. He was involved, but not in the way that much of the religious right is today. More likely, he made the footsteps that Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa later walked in. This is a book on politics, power, and pacifism. At least that is the way that Yoder sees it.

Many Christians do not agree with Yoder, but he is not easily dismissed. This book is well written and each chapter of this revised edition contains an epilogue that helps to update it with new information since the days of the first edition.

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5.0 out of 5 stars
THE POLITICS OF JESUS by John Howard Yoder
By MOTU Review on February 16, 2008

The Politics of Jesus is John Howard Yoder's treatise on Jesus' political inclinations, based on and in response to twentieth century biblical scholarship. Yoder was a Mennonite biblical scholar, theologian, and professor of theology. The 1994 version of this book is a revision and expansion of his original version, published in 1972.

Yoder points out early that this book is an ethical methodology, not an exegesis. Indeed, he spends the majority of the work building on and responding to the thought of innumerable other twentieth century scholars. His primary target is twentieth century Christian systematic theology that argues for various reasons that Jesus is not a valid source of personal ethics. Yoder does a thorough job of demonstrating that Jesus was indeed politically-minded, and one of the consequences of this is the discovery that Jesus has intended us to follow his pacifist lifestyle.

Contrary to what at least one reviewer has complained, Yoder does address the Old Testament as it relates to a modern Christian pacifism, albeit briefly. Yoder's treatment of Romans 13, however, is thorough.

Most of the criticism of this book seems to be from people who are inherently opposed to Christian pacifism as many arguments are from that ground rather than on anything Yoder has done incorrectly. That is, people tend to reject his arguments based on their personal beliefs and traditions. Many arguments say "Yoder didn't address such and such"; but a book can only be so long.

The book does contain a lot of the vocabulary and jargon of Christian scholarship, and people unfamiliar with such may have a little trouble with it.

The Politics of Jesus is the finest book on Christianity I have read in a long time. Yoder does an excellent job highlighting parallels and themes running through Jesus' life, and of making the case for Christian pacifism. I recommend this book to everyone.
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Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way (Facets): Walter Wink: 9780800636098: Amazon.com: Books

Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way (Facets): Walter Wink:

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars

A radical Jesus

By Martin Smedjeback on February 9, 2004

We have all been fooled! That was the feeling I had when I put down Jesus and Nonviolence. Jesus is not the weak, nonpolitical, do not rock the boat-kind of guy that they talk about in church. The Bible researcher Walter Wink shows with clarity how Jesus both gave examples and himself acted very politically to change the society he was living in. He challenged the rules and the laws of his day's powers. He acted powerfully against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and he questioned the unlawful occupation of his land. There were others that did this before him. The difference was that they used violence to protest against the occupation. Jesus acted with loving nonviolence. He challenged the injustices but always with respect for the other. Wink goes on to show us that the ideas and methods of nonviolence are very alive also today, actually more than any time before. Only in 1989-90 there were fourteen nations that underwent nonviolent revolutions, all of them successful except China. In this thin book Wink has given me a whole new view of Christianity, has strengthened my belief in nonviolence and has given me hope for a nonviolent future. Quite an accomplishment for a 117-pages book!

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5.0 out of 5 stars

nonviolent action is not passivism!

By C.J.A. on September 1, 2004

I carry a copy of this little book with me wherever I go, and I've reread it many times with great enjoyment. This is an essential introduction to the nonviolent way of Jesus for all Christians, including great commentary on relevant biblical passages and invaluable guidance for respecting the dignity of one's "opponents." It makes a super gift.

The only lasting way to eliminate an enemy is to make him your friend.

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5.0 out of 5 stars

Wink Does It Again

By Dr. Thomas H. Martin on June 11, 2003

If you are considering or committed to the way of nonviolence and searching for firm footing in the actual practice of peace and reconciliation, read this book. As always, Wink is challenging, creative, convincing, and compelling. The many stories he tells to illustrate his points are quite interesting and practical.

This is vintage Wink at his best. I will refer to this little book often. It would be a steal at twice the price.

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5.0 out of 5 stars

A good interpretation of the Christian basis for nonviolence.

By James G. Williams on September 2, 2005

Walter Wink here gives a fine overview and simplification of his thinking on the topic of nonviolence as presented in his various scholarly studies of the New Testament topics of the principalities and powers and the Son of Man. It gives new life to turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, and love of enemies. It is especially appropriate for classes and small groups of laypeople who have only an elementary background in biblical studies.

For heartier fare on this issue that is at the heart of Christian faith and life one may turn to Wink's trilogy on The Powers. For comparable or related works I highly recommend John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus and William T. Cavanaugh, Torture and the Eucharist. One lack in this little monograph is that Wink doesn't mention the work of René Girard on desire and violence, although he has taken note of it in The Powers.

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5.0 out of 5 starsA new look at Jesus

By Highlanderthal on October 12, 2005

Format: Paperback

This is a small book that you can carry with you as a reminder in your hectic life.This introduction to a non-violent Jesus will empower you to make changes in your life.It has many biblical passages that teach you to respect the dignity of people who disagree with your beliefs. The only lasting way to eliminate an enemy is to make him your friend.

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5.0 out of 5 starsA Classic of Nonviolence Written with Passion and from Personal Experience

By Amos Smith on May 24, 2014

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This is a classic of Nonviolence in Christian tradition. Whereas some books on Nonviolence from a Christian perspective often stray from the mark, Walter Wink brings us back over and over again to the Nonviolent core of Jesus' message. He also shows us how that message has been watered-down and misunderstood. Wink writes with conviction, passion, and personal experience as an international proponent of Nonviolent resistance. Highly recommended!! -Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)

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5.0 out of 5 starsAwsome little book!

By R. Ross on January 13, 2008

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

This book was first introduced to me through a Wilmington College (Ohio) class on Quakerism and the Peace Testimony. It affirmed my beliefs that we have no right to kill other people, no matter what. Jesus was a radical, and understanding the context of his teachings help to make them clearer to our culture today. As a Christian (and now following the Quaker testimonies), I don't understand how someone who believes Jesus is Christ can kill another human being, when he states that we are to "love (respect) our enemies." This little book shows how nonviolent revolutions solve political problems in the long run, much more often than violent ones do, yet people still believe that nonviolence in passive and cowardly. This is a book that every Christian should read.

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5.0 out of 5 starsThoughtful and can be provocative

By Frank Coats on December 30, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

This is a thoughtful, can be provocative look at Jesus'teaching on non-violence. It helps answer a question that shoukd bother everyone: if Jesus was so nice and sweet why did anyone want o kill him? Walter Wink was a sharp theologian and this kindle version is excellent.

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