Summer Reads: The Chalice and the Blade

The renewing chalice, the life-taking blade

The central argument of the book is grounded in the powerful symbolism of the chalice and the blade. The chalice represents the nurturing, sustaining, and restorative values described as feminine. The chalice’s power is rooted in its ability to foster creative innovation, resulting in tremendous influence in how social organization evolves with the voices of all members of society involved. The blade, on the other hand, is the symbol for destruction and death, and its power is unsustainably rooted in fear, domination, and the constant threat of force.

The dominator model may sound familiar because we live in it. Our hierarchal, paternalistic system is designed to consolidate decision making, ownership, and governance in the hands of a mostly male minority, leaving women marginalized from seats of power. Peace and security are defined and designed by and for only a part of the population. This model fails to account for over half of the world’s population and is unsustainable.

Transformation from domination to partnership

The reason why The Chalice and the Blade is relevant to our current thinking about the women, peace and security agenda is because Eisler presents us with an alternative system of values—the partnership model—which can foster women’s full participation in international decision making on security and peace. In Eisler’s terms, the women, peace and security movement is working to transform the current dominator system to the partnership model, where women and men’s voices and values can drive governance and decision making equally.

Eisler’s book emphisizes that gender equality isn’t about female domination. It is about equality between the sexes and genders with the purpose of realizing the full potential of humanity. A partnership model of social organization invites innovative solutions to address the root causes of conflict, navigating the complexities of a new era, and addressing the challenges of climate change. According to Eisler’s work, the archeological record shows that societies like this have thrived before, paving the way for the most critical technological innovations in human history, such as the agricultural revolution. It is up to the women, peace and security movement to promote and support this cultural shift back to this model.

The Shift to a Partnership Model

Ecological, social, and political crisis are gripping the world, each exacerbated by the effects of a sustained dominator model of social organization. In a shifting era, where humanity is grappling with the changes brought by globalization, climate change and mass migration, the solutions will not be found on the bloodied edge of the blade. In these increasingly chaotic times it is critical to redesign our fracturing systems into sustainable models for a more secure future. Eisler presents a viable model to make this cultural shift, and interestingly, innovation, resilience, and collaboration are also key components of the women, peace and security movement. We can each engage with the process of reorienting our culture and society with incremental actions, such as reading women peacebuilders’ perspectives and utilizing a simple gender analysis tool in our work.