We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We are a small non-profit with no staff - we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. Rather than resorting to distorting omission for example, failure to even hint at the archeological evidence discussed at length in the book, backing its conclusions, quoting out of context and ridicule, an honest review from someone who believes and this is a quotation from the review within context that ''violent conflict'' is the ''midwife to some of the greatest leaps toward freedom,'' and who intimates that war is just ''human nature,'' would have openly addressed the author's and the reviewer's fundamental ideological differences. In contrast to the reviewer's attempt to trivialize this extraordinary work, assessments by the above group ranged from ''groundbreaking'' and ''catalytic and pioneering'' to ''the most important book since Darwin's 'Origin of Species. Because its reconstruction of our past, present and future is based on neglected and even suppressed as well as long-established findings from a wide range of fields, and because this reconstruction differs so greatly from traditional including the reviewer's Marxist views, sections relevant to their expertise were screened for accuracy by two archeologists, two historians, an anthropologist, two systems theorists, three sociologists, three psychologists, three religious studies scholars, two art historians and an economist. I am one of 19 social scientists and other scholars, both male and female, who reviewed this book prior to its recent publication. *Īs one acquainted with Riane Eisler's book ''The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future'' from its inception, I am writing regarding the distortion and misrepresentation of this remarkable book as antimale ''science fiction'' by its reviewer, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese Oct. I think that true egalitarianism is more likely to be achieved by making our concepts of sex and gender less rigid, more fluid, and more varied, rather than dividing humanity into two halves and constantly trying to either make both halves stay on the correct side, or to persuade one half that theyre not good enough because theyre not like the other. Which made me realize why I also have trouble believing her claims about a women-oriented peaceful society.
That so-called is oddly placed, because its clear that Eisler sees women as the bearers of the peaceful virtues men are regressive and violent unless they submit to a feminine value system. I feel like my comments on the second half of the book, in which Eisler moves away from prehistory to deal with the political power men have had over women throughout history, can be dealt with by pointing out that its unfortunate that Judith Butlers Gender Trouble came out in 1990, three years after Eisler first wrote this.Įisler sees the main theme throughout history as the struggle between so-called feminine and masculine values (138). Gimbutas, and by extension Eisler, with all her claims after those, moves onto increasingly shakier ground.* Anything after that, we cant really say for sure. My conclusion: there are a couple strong points to the idea of a more egalitarian Neolithic society that had possible elements of a religion involving numerous goddesses. Gimbutas is a highly controversial figure in archaeology, and I tried to wade a bit into the debate around her by reading a number of articles, to better weigh Eislers argument.
The first half is in large part a summary and popularizing of the work of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, who argues that before the spread of Indo-European civilization there existed a matrifocal, peaceful, egalitarian society, that practiced a predominately female-oriented polytheism that also involved a single Goddess figure. I read it because I know a number of people who claim this book fundamentally shaped their worldview (and a number of others who dont make that claim, but are certainly influenced by the popularity of Eislers ideas). Three stars because it was a pretty interesting read, and she covers, well, all of human history. The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future by Riane Eisler