Riane Tennenhaus Eisler (born 22 July 1931) is an Austrian-born American systems scientist and author who writes about the effect of gender politics historically on society. She is most known for her 1987 book The Chalice and the Blade, in which she coined the terms "partnership" and "dominator". Life Eisler was born in Vienna in 1931 before her family fled from the Nazis in 1939 to Cuba. She and her parents lived in a slum in Havana for seven years, after which they emigrated to the United States, to Miami, New York, and Chicago before finally settling in Los Angeles. Eisler has degrees in sociology and law from the University of California. She is an attorney, legal scholar and author. She has published thirteen books, including one memoir, The Gate, published in 2000. Her first book, published in 1977, was Dissolution: No-Fault Divorce, Marriage, and the Future of Women. Her second book, published in 1979, was on the Equal Rights Amendment. In her third book The Chalice and the Blade, published in 1987, she coined the terms "partnership" and "dominator" to describe the two underlying forms of society. Partnership societies are characterized by gender equality, peace, sustainability, caring, while dominator societies are characterized by sexism, chronic war, ecological destruction, and unsustainability. According to her research, which references the work of archaeologists Marija Gimbutas and James Mellaart, among others, for millennia human societies were built on partnership, in which human capacity to give, nurture and sustain life was held in the highest regard, and shared responsibility was the gold standard. The fall into domination occurred around 6,500 years ago. The Chalice and the Blade has sold over 500,000 copies and been translated into around 25 languages. Eisler has argued that the switch from partnership to dominator has led to gender biased monogamy, prostitution and illegitimacy, women's dependence and the acceptance of chronic war. She is editor-in-chief of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies at the University of Minnesota. The Center for Partnership Studies In 1987, in partnership with her husband David Elliot Loye, Eisler founded The Center for Partnership Studies, which was later renamed The Center for Partnership Systems. The organization is "dedicated to research, education, and building tools to construct economic and social systems that support human beings and the planet that sustains us." Influence Philosopher Terence McKenna referenced Eisler's work throughout his writings and talks, including in The Archaic