The Power of Partnership

Partnership and Planetary Health with Teddie Potter

Cherri Jacobs Pruitt with Riane Eisler Season 2 Episode 2

In this episode of the Power of Partnership podcast, host Cherri Jacobs Pruitt explores the growing transdisciplinary field of Planetary Health with Dr. Teddie Potter, Clinical Professor and Director of the Center for Planetary Health and Environmental Justice at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. The conversation includes an unpacking of how the domination narrative impacts our relationship with the natural world and provides resources and practical ways to join the Planetary Health movement and help nurture a sustainable planet for generations to come. This episode is more than just a conversation, it's a call to action for us all to live in harmony with nature. 

Planetary Health Alliance

The Promise of Planetary Health Youtube video

Sao Paola Declaration on Planetary Health

Planetary Health Education Framework

Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies

Transforming Interprofessional Partnerships: A New Framework for Nursing and Partnership-Based Health Care, Teddie Potter and Riane Eisler

The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, Riane Eisler

The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships that will Change Your Life, Riane Eisler

Center for Partnership Systems

center@partnershipway.org

Resilience, Rising Appalachia



Support the show

00;00;20;07 - 00;00;21;24
Welcome to the

00;00;21;24 - 00;00;26;30
introductory episode
of The Power of Partnership Podcast.

00;00;27;00 - 00;00;31;49
I'm Riane Eisler, founder of the Center
for Partnership Systems.

00;00;32;26 - 00;00;37;17
This podcast brings
you voices from the partnership movement,

00;00;37;44 - 00;00;41;54
people using partnership practices
to build a world

00;00;42;14 - 00;00;47;29
That values caring nature
and shared prosperity.

00;00;47;46 - 00;00;51;38
the Power of Partnership podcast is hosted

00;00;52;05 - 00;00;54;59
by Cherri Jacobs Pruitt,

00;00;54;59 - 00;00;58;03
a health policy and partnership scholar.

00;00;58;26 - 00;01;02;08
Today's episode describes my journey,

00;01;02;08 - 00;01;05;09
pioneering the partnership movement.

00;01;05;29 - 00;01;08;28
And now to today, POP

00;01;09;04 - 00;01;12;04
Power of Partnership podcast.

00;01;27;19 - 00;01;29;54
It is such an honor to be interviewing you

00;01;29;54 - 00;01;33;17
for this first episode
of The Power of Partnership podcast.

00;01;33;47 - 00;01;37;48
Your research writing
and speaking on cultural transformation

00;01;38;04 - 00;01;43;23
has changed the lives of so many people
worldwide, and I'm thrilled to be able

00;01;43;23 - 00;01;46;28
to share so many of their
stories through this podcast.

00;01;47;49 - 00;01;50;33
Can we begin today by you sharing with us

00;01;50;33 - 00;01;53;32
what led you to develop
the partnership movement?

00;01;54;57 - 00;01;55;26
Thank you.

00;01;55;26 - 00;01;59;45
And it's a pleasure to be with you
and I am delighted

00;02;00;08 - 00;02;03;08
to do this interview and

00;02;04;18 - 00;02;09;08
I start wih my childhood
because my passion for this work and yes,

00;02;09;10 - 00;02;14;08
I have a great passion for it,
is rooted in my early childhood

00;02;14;08 - 00;02;19;53
experiences as a child
refugee with my parents from the Nazis.

00;02;20;10 - 00;02;24;14
And we fled my native Vienna at night
just with what we could carry.

00;02;24;37 - 00;02;29;23
My parents were able to obtain
an entry permit to Cuba,

00;02;29;29 - 00;02;33;59
one of the two places in the world
that we could go to.

00;02;34;15 - 00;02;39;46
The other one was Shanghai, China
and there I grew up

00;02;39;46 - 00;02;44;06
in, the industrial slums of Havana,
experiencing at first.

00;02;44;08 - 00;02;46;30
Until  my parents, got back on their feet.

00;02;47;53 - 00;02;50;40
Poverty surrounded by poverty.

00;02;50;40 - 00;02;53;36
And all of this
really led me to questions

00;02;53;36 - 00;02;56;18
that I'm sure many of you have asked.

00;02;56;18 - 00;02;59;29
Does
it have to be this way? When we humans

00;02;59;29 - 00;03;03;35
have such an enormous capacity
for caring, for

00;03;04;01 - 00;03;07;31
sensitivity, for creativity,

00;03;07;45 - 00;03;13;25
why has there been so much insensitivity,
violence, destructiveness

00;03;13;58 - 00;03;17;39
and fast forward, many years.

00;03;18;00 - 00;03;21;42
It was these questions that eventually led

00;03;22;05 - 00;03;26;24
to my multidisciplinary
cross-cultural research

00;03;26;35 - 00;03;29;26
What did you find with your research?

00;03;29;26 - 00;03;31;27
Well, what I found was,

00;03;31;27 - 00;03;33;02
that you have to.

00;03;33;33 - 00;03;35;21
Einstein said it.

00;03;35;21 - 00;03;39;40
He said you cannot solve problems
with the same thinking

00;03;40;01 - 00;03;43;05
that created them
with the same consciousness,

00;03;43;35 - 00;03;47;16
or lack of consciousness
that created them.

00;03;48;16 - 00;03;50;56
It was only when I stepped back

00;03;50;56 - 00;03;54;26
and really looked at the patterns

00;03;55;25 - 00;03;58;25
forget all about
the conventional social categories

00;03;58;27 - 00;04;02;25
and looked at the patterns,
the configurations

00;04;02;48 - 00;04;08;23
that kept repeating themselves
cross-culturally trans-historically

00;04;08;46 - 00;04;13;55
and yes drawing from many disciplines,
not just one.

00;04;15;04 - 00;04;17;35
I was able to connect the dots.

00;04;17;35 - 00;04;20;15
I was able to see two configurations.

00;04;20;15 - 00;04;24;59
There were no names for them,
so I called one Domination System

00;04;25;17 - 00;04;28;31
and yes, it’s what we're trying to leave
behind.

00;04;28;31 - 00;04;31;54
It's what happened in our prehistory.

00;04;32;16 - 00;04;36;35
The imposition of top down authoritarian

00;04;37;00 - 00;04;40;29
rigidly male dominated, punitive,

00;04;40;59 - 00;04;43;50
violent societies

00;04;43;50 - 00;04;48;40
and what how we lived, how
we lived for millennia.

00;04;48;59 - 00;04;53;56
And what we're trying to really recover in
many,

00;04;54;37 - 00;04;59;08
really disconnected ways, but
it’s all part of a movement towards what I’ve called

00;04;59;34 - 00;05;02;31
A partnership configuration

00;05;04;01 - 00;05;07;00
in which in families,

00;05;07;35 - 00;05;09;21
in education,

00;05;09;21 - 00;05;12;49
in religion, in politics, in economics,

00;05;13;05 - 00;05;15;54
you have a very, very different

00;05;15;54 - 00;05;18;54
social configuration.

00;05;19;30 - 00;05;21;31
So can you speak about how

00;05;21;31 - 00;05;25;32
these different paradigms,
this domination and partnership

00;05;25;57 - 00;05;28;57
configuration plays out in societies
today?

00;05;29;34 - 00;05;31;10
Absolutely

00;05;31;30 - 00;05;34;28
for millennia, foraging societies

00;05;34;28 - 00;05;39;26
that the anthropologist and my co-author
of Nurturing Our Humanity.

00;05;39;46 - 00;05;42;33
The anthropologist, Douglas Fry

00;05;42;33 - 00;05;45;46
calls the original partnerships societies,

00;05;46;16 - 00;05;49;56
they conform to that configuration.
In the Chalice and the Blade

00;05;49;56 - 00;05;53;26
I talk about Catalhoyuk ,
for example.

00;05;54;11 - 00;05;58;39
The largest Neolithic society ever discovered.

00;05;59;04 - 00;06;01;59
And the one of the people who excavated

00;06;01;59 - 00;06;06;02
that society most recently Ian Hodder

00;06;06;41 - 00;06;09;05
in a film interview.

00;06;09;05 - 00;06;12;17
And there is a film Human Kind

00;06;12;37 - 00;06;15;37
being made on my life and my work.

00;06;15;50 - 00;06;20;45
He says, yes,
these were partnership societies

00;06;20;48 - 00;06;24;40
glylanic societies to
use one of the terms

00;06;24;53 - 00;06;29;10
that’s gender specific that I coined.

00;06;29;10 - 00;06;33;18
Minoan Crete was another example,
an outlier really,

00;06;33;31 - 00;06;36;30
after the shift to a domination

00;06;36;43 - 00;06;40;26
system was beginning to really take root

00;06;40;48 - 00;06;43;47
all over but, it was an island in the Mediterranean.

00;06;44;13 - 00;06;46;49
No signs of destruction
through warfare

00;06;47;51 - 00;06;48;48
like in Catalhoyuk

00;06;48;48 - 00;06;53;05
for a thousand years. In Minoan Crete,
no signs of

00;06;53;52 - 00;06;56;51
any conflict between the various city
states.

00;06;57;26 - 00;07;02;14
No armed conflict, no fortifications, women
played a major role.

00;07;02;14 - 00;07;06;43
It was before women
became really male chattels

00;07;06;43 - 00;07;11;02
technologies of sexuality
and of reproduction.

00;07;11;02 - 00;07;12;34
And that's it.

00;07;12;34 - 00;07;15;34
This was not the case in our pre-history.

00;07;15;38 - 00;07;19;03
And it is also, again, fast forwarding,

00;07;19;28 - 00;07;24;44
if you look at Northern European nations
like Finland, like Sweden

00;07;25;19 - 00;07;28;18
like Norway, like Denmark,

00;07;29;01 - 00;07;30;55
they're not socialist,

00;07;30;55 - 00;07;35;39
they are more partnership 
oriented societies, they are first of all

00;07;35;42 - 00;07;40;48
in both the family and the state
or tribe

00;07;41;17 - 00;07;46;59
they are really much,
much more democratic, more egalitarian.

00;07;47;58 - 00;07;50;07
And men

00;07;50;07 - 00;07;53;18
I mean,
they too have a domination heritage,

00;07;53;32 - 00;07;57;41
but they're getting rid of it
more and more and more.

00;07;57;41 - 00;08;02;02
So more men are doing
the so-called women's work today,

00;08;02;30 - 00;08;08;19
not only in these Nordic nations,
but all over the world really

00;08;08;19 - 00;08;11;53

we’re finding men doing so-called women

00;08;11;53 - 00;08;16;21
work, women’s
work of feeding babies, diapering babies.

00;08;16;39 - 00;08;20;05
I mean, but this relates to the second

00;08;21;14 - 00;08;23;27
really cornerstone

00;08;23;27 - 00;08;28;51
of these systems of partnership
systems, women in these nations.

00;08;29;09 - 00;08;33;21
are 40 to 50% of the national legislature.

00;08;33;27 - 00;08;36;27
But they really

00;08;36;38 - 00;08;39;38
are societies in which

00;08;39;42 - 00;08;43;10
they call themselves
often caring societies.

00;08;43;28 - 00;08;46;28
They have universal child care

00;08;46;30 - 00;08;49;23
with good pay, good training.

00;08;49;23 - 00;08;54;05
You know, we have a very gendered
system of values is so peculiar.

00;08;54;23 - 00;08;57;32
I mean, we insist that, for example,

00;08;57;41 - 00;09;01;28
plumbers be trained,
the people to whom we entrust pipes.

00;09;01;28 - 00;09;02;07
Right.

00;09;02;07 - 00;09;08;08
But we don't insist that child care
workers be trained and paid well.

00;09;08;09 - 00;09;10;38
I mean, this is reality stood on it’s head.

00;09;10;38 - 00;09;11;59
Isn't it?

00;09;11;59 - 00;09;14;59
And we need to stand reality on it’s

00;09;15;10 - 00;09;17;26
right side up.

00;09;17;26 - 00;09;19;05
And of course,

00;09;19;05 - 00;09;24;02
but it isn't that only that women
are trained to be caring in domination

00;09;24;02 - 00;09;27;50
systems, it’s a dynamic of these systems that

00;09;27;54 - 00;09;34;04
as the status of women rises men too,
because it’s men, who also vote

00;09;34;22 - 00;09;40;29
for these caring policies
but are  very extensive

00;09;40;29 - 00;09;44;48
paid parental leave for both mothers
and fathers, for example,

00;09;45;17 - 00;09;49;52
caring for the environment
as the status of women rises men.

00;09;50;13 - 00;09;54;11
No longer feel is such a threat
to their status, so their

00;09;55;14 - 00;09;56;27
masculinity, as

00;09;56;27 - 00;09;59;27
defined in the old domination system.

00;09;59;43 - 00;10;02;42
So they to vote for caring policies.

00;10;02;42 - 00;10;07;27
And of course,
if you look at these societies,

00;10;07;51 - 00;10;12;17
yes they do a value caring for people

00;10;12;39 - 00;10;17;51
starting at birth and caring
for our natural life support systems.

00;10;17;51 - 00;10;22;39
They're way ahead of us in combating
climate change.

00;10;23;02 - 00;10;23;44
Right.

00;10;23;44 - 00;10;27;57
You know, really
carbon emissions are lower, etc..

00;10;28;26 - 00;10;30;34
They're not perfect.

00;10;30;34 - 00;10;34;42
And it is not true
that it's that they're that way

00;10;34;42 - 00;10;37;47
because they're relatively homogeneous.

00;10;38;34 - 00;10;43;04
The reality, is that they these nations

00;10;43;25 - 00;10;47;03
invest more
proportionately in caring for people

00;10;47;47 - 00;10;52;54
in the developed world, people
who are not genetically related to them

00;10;52;54 - 00;10;56;38
by any means it’s that they conform more

00;10;56;38 - 00;10;59;52
to the partnership
domination, social scale

00;11;00;13 - 00;11;05;13
and really conform more to the partnership
configuration.

00;11;05;58 - 00;11;10;08
So it's a lot
that I'm trying to communicate here,

00;11;10;33 - 00;11;15;03
but we do need to free ourselves

00;11;15;23 - 00;11;18;22
from the categories we have inherited

00;11;18;35 - 00;11;21;53
from more rigid domination times.

00;11;22;17 - 00;11;26;10
You are listening
to the Power of Partnership podcast.

00;11;26;15 - 00;11;29;40
If you would like us
to share your partnership story

00;11;29;45 - 00;11;34;17
or if you would like to become
a proud sponsor of the POP podcast,

00;11;34;22 - 00;11;39;50
please contact us at center@partnershipway.org

00;11;39;55 - 00;11;43;19
And now back to today's episode.

00;11;43;32 - 00;11;45;13
You know,

00;11;45;13 - 00;11;49;55
it is really interesting
if you look at modern history

00;11;50;49 - 00;11;53;34
through this lens,

00;11;53;34 - 00;11;57;25
what you see
is that every single progressive

00;11;57;59 - 00;12;01;51
social movement
has actually challenged the same thing

00;12;02;22 - 00;12;06;24
a tradition of domination,
whether it was the Enlightenment,

00;12;06;24 - 00;12;10;33
so-called rights of man movement
challenging

00;12;10;51 - 00;12;14;19
the so-called divinely ordained,
you know,

00;12;14;19 - 00;12;18;49
I mean, that's it, you know, God fearing
and divinely ordained are the two catch words

00;12;19;18 - 00;12;24;03
really in domination
oriented religion.

00;12;24;38 - 00;12;25;53
So it was supposed to be divinely ordained

00;12;25;53 - 00;12;30;09
that kings and nobles
rule over their quote subjects.

00;12;30;34 - 00;12;34;53
Then if you look at the abolitionist,
the anti-colonial,

00;12;35;21 - 00;12;38;52
the civil rights,
the Black Lives Matter movement.

00;12;39;57 - 00;12;44;43
What are they challenging? Another tradition
of domination, the so called again

00;12;44;43 - 00;12;47;57
divinely ordained right of the quote superior

00;12;47;57 - 00;12;50;57
race to rule over an inferior one.

00;12;51;22 - 00;12;54;31
If you look at the feminist movement,

00;12;55;17 - 00;12;59;34
the contemporary global
women's rights movement

00;13;00;38 - 00;13;02;00
They’re challenging another

00;13;02;00 - 00;13;07;12
so called divinely ordained
right of men to rule over the women

00;13;07;12 - 00;13;11;11
and children in the quote, castles
you know, a military metaphor

00;13;11;15 - 00;13;15;17
of their homes
all the way to the environmental movement,

00;13;15;35 - 00;13;19;25
challenging our once hallowed and idealized

00;13;19;43 - 00;13;22;57
conquest and domination of nature

00;13;23;17 - 00;13;26;17
that at our level of technology

00;13;26;37 - 00;13;29;37
of population is about to do us in

00;13;29;44 - 00;13;33;12
so but we have failed to pay

00;13;33;12 - 00;13;38;04
sufficient attention
to these four cornerstones of family,

00;13;38;28 - 00;13;41;28
of gender, of economics,

00;13;41;34 - 00;13;44;32
and of story and language.

00;13;44;32 - 00;13;47;54
And we must we need an integrated

00;13;47;55 - 00;13;51;19
frame and the partnership domination

00;13;51;19 - 00;13;54;22
social scale gives us that frame.

00;13;55;13 - 00;13;57;40
So let's talk just a bit about your books.

00;13;57;40 - 00;13;59;55
You've authored numerous books.

00;13;59;55 - 00;14;02;54
You've already spoken
a touch about The Chalice and The Blade,

00;14;02;54 - 00;14;07;11
and of course the title of this podcast
series is The Power of Partnership,

00;14;07;36 - 00;14;11;55
and today's episode
featuring you is titled The Partnership

00;14;11;55 - 00;14;14;55
Way, which are two of the books
that you've written.

00;14;14;55 - 00;14;19;12
Can you speak a little bit
about how these two books came to be

00;14;19;28 - 00;14;25;28
and how our listeners can learn from
these books how to move towards

00;14;25;28 - 00;14;29;43
the partnership end of the continuum
throughout all aspects of their lives?

00;14;30;53 - 00;14;32;54
Well, these are really

00;14;32;54 - 00;14;37;06
work books that you’re talking about.
You know, the first two books

00;14;37;28 - 00;14;40;49
drawing from my research
were the Chalice and the Blade.

00;14;41;10 - 00;14;44;35
The subtitle is Our History,
Our Future.

00;14;44;35 - 00;14;48;07
And that's exactly what it's about,
and it really is

00;14;48;07 - 00;14;51;07
about our history.

00;14;51;20 - 00;14;53;42
Both halves of,

00;14;53;42 - 00;14;56;42
you know, there are two forms of humanity,

00;14;56;56 - 00;15;02;16
male and female,
and if you rank one over the other,

00;15;02;27 - 00;15;05;20
and if you also have
these rigid gender stereotypes

00;15;05;20 - 00;15;08;20
which you need for this ranking,

00;15;08;45 - 00;15;12;35
what you get is what we've got,
which is in-group versus

00;15;12;35 - 00;15;16;18
outgroup thinking,
whether it’s based in differences

00;15;16;18 - 00;15;19;45
becomes equated with dominating
or being dominated

00;15;20;51 - 00;15;22;00
with superiority

00;15;22;00 - 00;15;25;23
and inferiority
with being served or serving, right,

00;15;25;28 - 00;15;29;30
the second book that I wrote,
which was called Sacred Pleasure,

00;15;29;30 - 00;15;33;08
which is in itself a heresy
because think about it,

00;15;33;20 - 00;15;36;19
the domination systems are really based
on fear of pain

00;15;36;19 - 00;15;40;40
aren’t they, the second book Sex, Myths,
and the Politics of the Body.

00;15;40;56 - 00;15;42;02
This is the subtitle

00;15;43;05 - 00;15;45;27
of the book that applies

00;15;45;27 - 00;15;48;09
the Partnership domination, social scale

00;15;48;09 - 00;15;51;07
to both sexuality and spirituality.

00;15;51;07 - 00;15;53;42
And it's one of my favorite books actually.

00;15;53;42 - 00;15;58;22
But then I started to turn to
what do we do?

00;15;58;41 - 00;16;01;57
There are three books
actually dealing with that.

00;16;02;39 - 00;16;06;59
One that I’ll just quickly touch upon
is called Tomorrow's Children

00;16;07;44 - 00;16;10;44
and it's about education, obviously.

00;16;11;09 - 00;16;14;16
And I really think

00;16;14;16 - 00;16;17;16
that we have to pay
a lot of attention to that.

00;16;17;23 - 00;16;19;17
I mean, think about it.

00;16;19;17 - 00;16;20;50
Not so long ago.

00;16;20;50 - 00;16;25;00
Physical punishment was built

00;16;25;00 - 00;16;28;56
into even Western education,
and it still is in the United States.

00;16;30;09 - 00;16;33;09
Children can be paddled, can be caned

00;16;33;29 - 00;16;38;43
in many of our states still,
according to the law because if you think

00;16;38;43 - 00;16;44;04
about what happens to children
in domination families, fear

00;16;46;03 - 00;16;49;03
and a lot of rage and a lot of pain,

00;16;51;04 - 00;16;53;16
and what happens in

00;16;53;16 - 00;16;56;46
domination systems is a dynamic, again,

00;16;57;18 - 00;17;00;10
that this fear, this rage,

00;17;00;10 - 00;17;05;12
this pain is then deflected
into in-group versus out-group

00;17;05;12 - 00;17;10;26
thinking against the bad, quote the weak,
just as they were.

00;17;10;53 - 00;17;13;53
I mean, think about that.

00;17;14;02 - 00;17;17;01
And so you get this in-group versus
out-group

00;17;17;34 - 00;17;20;34
violence, rage, anger.

00;17;22;12 - 00;17;25;31
And we've got to really understand

00;17;25;56 - 00;17;30;37
that this is not something
that we can blame individual families for.

00;17;30;54 - 00;17;34;46
This is something characteristic
of families

00;17;35;19 - 00;17;40;37
of the ideal norm for families
really in domination systems.

00;17;40;48 - 00;17;43;48
But getting now to your question
which I eventually will.

00;17;46;57 - 00;17;48;35
Both the Partnership Way,

00;17;48;35 - 00;17;53;02
which I wrote with my wonderful late husband,
David Loye,

00;17;54;06 - 00;17;57;06
it's a workbook for both Chalice

00;17;57;24 - 00;18;00;05
and for Sacred Pleasure

00;18;00;05 - 00;18;04;25
to really
with a lot of experiential exercises.

00;18;05;23 - 00;18;05;57
And so forth

00;18;05;57 - 00;18;09;36
and I really highly recommend it.

00;18;09;51 - 00;18;14;24
And then there's also
the Power of Partnership like the name

00;18;14;42 - 00;18;17;56
of our wonderful podcast with you.

00;18;18;47 - 00;18;21;46
But it is really well, it won

00;18;21;46 - 00;18;24;46
the Nautilus Award as the best

00;18;26;22 - 00;18;29;21
self-help book of that year.

00;18;29;58 - 00;18;30;08
First of all

00;18;30;08 - 00;18;33;53
each chapter has going further,

00;18;34;49 - 00;18;38;25
you know, questions, exercises, etc.

00;18;38;59 - 00;18;43;02
It starts
with how we relate to ourselves.

00;18;43;18 - 00;18;46;53
And yes, it uses the partnership,
domination, social scale.

00;18;47;28 - 00;18;50;42
Do we have this noise, 

00;18;50;42 - 00;18;53;54
in our heads, this voice telling us,
we're not good enough,

00;18;55;10 - 00;18;57;14
you know, etc..

00;18;57;14 - 00;19;01;15
And it isn't, as I said,
and I want to emphasize this, our parents fault

00;19;01;40 - 00;19;04;40
I mean, they just pass on what they

00;19;05;27 - 00;19;09;19
were exposed to and
what they were taught was good parenting.

00;19;09;32 - 00;19;14;10
And you know that there's still so called
Christian parenting

00;19;14;34 - 00;19;20;46
guides in the United States that recommend
inflicting pain on children

00;19;22;48 - 00;19;24;20
so that quote

00;19;24;20 - 00;19;28;48
that they
learn that the parents word is law.

00;19;30;09 - 00;19;31;19
I mean think about that.

00;19;31;19 - 00;19;37;27
Think of how that socializes
us to identify with strong men leaders

00;19;38;02 - 00;19;40;34
who also are punitive

00;19;40;34 - 00;19;43;34
and with in-group versus out-group

00;19;43;52 - 00;19;46;52
policies and actions.

00;19;46;54 - 00;19;50;12
So the really
the Power of Partnership goes on then

00;19;51;13 - 00;19;54;18
to our intimate relations,
you know, family

00;19;54;18 - 00;19;58;24
and other intimate relations
to our work and community relations.

00;19;58;24 - 00;20;01;59
But it doesn't stop there
because it's all of one clause.

00;20;02;18 - 00;20;06;28
It then goes on to our national relations,
our international relations,

00;20;06;48 - 00;20;10;52
our relationships
with our Mother earth with nature.

00;20;11;07 - 00;20;17;03
With our natural life support system
and to our spiritual relations,

00;20;17;03 - 00;20;21;56
because spirituality can be very much,
you know, religion

00;20;22;59 - 00;20;27;45
this spirituality of our conventional
religions that we've inherited.

00;20;28;10 - 00;20;31;26
I mean, think about it you know,
sometimes I say it as a joke

00;20;31;44 - 00;20;35;04
that when I get really depressed
about what's happening in our world,

00;20;35;16 - 00;20;38;29
I think of the European Middle
Ages. Why?

00;20;38;52 - 00;20;41;52
Because they looked a lot like the Taliban.

00;20;41;57 - 00;20;45;17
They really oriented to the domination
configurations.

00;20;45;17 - 00;20;50;14
There were some partnership elements
but the Inquisition, the Crusades,

00;20;50;31 - 00;20;55;26
the witch burnings, human rights forget it,
women and children’s rights.

00;20;55;44 - 00;20;58;35
I mean, that was just beyond the pale.

00;20;58;35 - 00;21;03;16
So think about the fact that we have
as I said been moving forward

00;21;03;20 - 00;21;08;09
but we must have a really coordinated

00;21;08;47 - 00;21;13;10
social, political,
economic and family agenda.

00;21;13;40 - 00;21;16;13

Because we really need to come together.

00;21;16;13 - 00;21;20;27
If you think of the trends
towards partnership they’re all over

00;21;20;45 - 00;21;25;56
I mean these thousands and thousands
of non-governmental organizations

00;21;26;15 - 00;21;31;52
that we have working on climate change,
working on domestic so-called domestic

00;21;31;52 - 00;21;35;46
violence, and it's violence,
it is fundamental violence.

00;21;36;02 - 00;21;40;13
We have to understand the dynamics
of how systems work.

00;21;40;35 - 00;21;43;20
And it isn't just simple linear

00;21;43;20 - 00;21;46;57
causes and effects, it's interactions.

00;21;47;19 - 00;21;52;43
And we've been taught,
I mean, I know I woke up as if from a long drug sleep

00;21;53;03 - 00;21;58;10
to suddenly realize that in all my years
of so-called higher education,

00;21;58;37 - 00;22;04;07
you know, there had been hardly anything
by, about, or for people like me: women

00;22;04;27 - 00;22;08;02
It is beginning to slowly change,
but much too slowly.

00;22;08;18 - 00;22;11;18
And it’s all an add-on, you know, 

00;22;11;36 - 00;22;14;54
I mean, women's studies, men's studies,
gender studies,

00;22;15;17 - 00;22;18;16
they're an add-on they need to be part of

00;22;18;22 - 00;22;21;01
every part of the curriculum.

00;22;22;07 - 00;22;25;18
We need
integrated cross-cultural education.

00;22;25;29 - 00;22;28;19
And we are working on it at the Center

00;22;28;19 - 00;22;32;11
for Partnership Systems.
Which is a wonderful segway into

00;22;32;23 - 00;22;35;23
I wanted to ask you to speak about in
more detail

00;22;35;23 - 00;22;38;30
is the Center for Partnerships Systems
how that was founded

00;22;38;48 - 00;22;41;35
and what types of resources and support

00;22;41;35 - 00;22;44;35
can our listeners find at the center?

00;22;45;38 - 00;22;49;50
Well, it was really founded
as there was such a response.

00;22;50;10 - 00;22;53;24
You know, I didn't know how The Chalice and The Blade, 
which challenges

00;22;53;36 - 00;22;55;48
so many givens, right.

00;22;55;48 - 00;22;58;47
Would be received, but

00;22;59;40 - 00;23;02;07
First of all, I mean, one response was,

00;23;02;07 - 00;23;05;56
I’ve always know this somehow, but you have

00;23;06;59 - 00;23;08;47
brought forth the evidence for it.

00;23;09;03 - 00;23;09;48
you know,

00;23;09;48 - 00;23;13;29
and that has been really marvelous.

00;23;13;29 - 00;23;17;59
So the center was founded
as a response to that response,

00;23;18;31 - 00;23;23;15
and the Chalice first came out in

00;23;24;18 - 00;23;27;18
86, 1986,

00;23;27;48 - 00;23;30;52
and so the center is over 35 years old.

00;23;32;17 - 00;23;36;54
And it's pretty amazing for

00;23;36;56 - 00;23;39;55
a not for profit to last that long.

00;23;40;16 - 00;23;42;12
And we've done many, many things.

00;23;42;12 - 00;23;47;36
And if you go to our web site, centerforpartnership.org

00;23;47;40 - 00;23;50;40
look at history and you’ll see

00;23;51;43 - 00;23;54;43
how we have really had an impact.

00;23;54;45 - 00;23;58;37
But to come to right now
and to come to the resources.

00;23;58;51 - 00;24;02;34
We offer many resources, first of all for families.

00;24;02;54 - 00;24;06;37
We offer Caring
and Connect Parenting Guide

00;24;07;35 - 00;24;10;28
Alicia Rando wrote it

00;24;10;28 - 00;24;15;37
based on really the newest,
neuroscience and it has been endorsed

00;24;15;57 - 00;24;18;05
by top pediatricians,

00;24;18;26 - 00;24;23;07
but it's available for free
in both English and in Spanish.

00;24;23;07 - 00;24;25;54
And it's short and it's to the point.

00;24;26;51 - 00;24;29;12
We have developed

00;24;29;12 - 00;24;32;12
a technology toolkit,

00;24;32;39 - 00;24;36;57
because technology is really values
neutral.

00;24;36;57 - 00;24;40;03
It depends on how it is programmed, right?

00;24;40;03 - 00;24;43;02
We see that very much and how it is used.

00;24;44;27 - 00;24;48;33
And yes, we also have now

00;24;49;08 - 00;24;52;40
shortened it and condensed it.

00;24;52;40 - 00;24;55;40
And you know, they did it

00;24;56;12 - 00;24;59;12
also for general use. And it’s really

00;24;59;56 - 00;25;02;03
asking us to really look

00;25;02;03 - 00;25;06;18
at our socialization and yes, uses

00;25;06;18 - 00;25;10;15
the partnership domination 
social scale and the four cornerstones.

00;25;10;15 - 00;25;15;30

We are working on a new index.

00;25;15;55 - 00;25;20;41
As I said, I wrote a book,
The Real Wealth of Nations,

00;25;21;05 - 00;25;24;04
and the subtitle
is Creating a Caring Economics

00;25;25;06 - 00;25;28;06
caring economics of partnerism

00;25;28;32 - 00;25;31;21
that really recognizes

00;25;31;21 - 00;25;35;24
the economic value of caring

00;25;35;24 - 00;25;39;56
for people starting at birth
and caring for our natural life support systems.

00;25;40;21 - 00;25;43;21
And there are statistics on this, but

00;25;44;06 - 00;25;46;40
like our social movements,
we are all over the place,

00;25;47;47 - 00;25;49;08
like the social progressive movements,

00;25;49;08 - 00;25;52;51
you know, where it's really all
part of the partnership movement.

00;25;53;12 - 00;25;56;24
So we
we are trying to bring this together.

00;25;56;25 - 00;26;01;02
So we launched the first iteration
and you can find out about it

00;26;01;29 - 00;26;06;01
at our website, in 2014

00;26;06;01 - 00;26;09;00
with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation.

00;26;09;02 - 00;26;12;37
we're trying to really show

00;26;13;09 - 00;26;15;51
 not just a snapshot of what is

00;26;15;51 - 00;26;18;51
like other so-called

00;26;19;32 - 00;26;22;32
GDP alternatives

00;26;23;21 - 00;26;25;54
also show what investments

00;26;25;54 - 00;26;29;04
what inputs create better outputs.

00;26;29;31 - 00;26;32;31
And there's no question
like the United States

00;26;33;19 - 00;26;37;35
has the highest child mortality,
the highest

00;26;38;49 - 00;26;42;39
infant poverty 

00;26;42;39 - 00;26;45;39
rate, the highest maternal

00;26;46;23 - 00;26;51;45
mortality
rate of any developed quote, unquote, nation.

00;26;52;02 - 00;26;55;30
And not coincidentally,
we invest the least

00;26;55;57 - 00;26;58;57
in family support.

00;26;59;56 - 00;27;01;07
now is the time

00;27;01;07 - 00;27;06;37
because the old institutions,
the old operating systems

00;27;07;08 - 00;27;10;23
whether they’re economic or family or social

00;27;10;23 - 00;27;14;23
and are not responding in this period

00;27;14;57 - 00;27;18;01
of rapid technological, social,

00;27;18;51 - 00;27;21;11
economic, climate change.

00;27;21;11 - 00;27;24;38
I mean,
with so much of the population in denial,

00;27;24;38 - 00;27;27;59
which is built into domination,
families, by the way.

00;27;29;19 - 00;27;31;35
I mean, it is really

00;27;31;35 - 00;27;35;02
something that we need to understand
and we need.

00;27;35;24 - 00;27;38;24
Well, what we need is a partnership,

00;27;39;21 - 00;27;43;06
social, political and family agenda.

00;27;43;08 - 00;27;46;24
And that's why I keep, you know, really
pushing

00;27;47;00 - 00;27;51;22
for read The Real Wealth of Nations, read
The Chalice and The Blade

00;27;51;38 - 00;27;54;25
and read Nurturing Our Humanity

00;27;54;25 - 00;27;57;32
because the evidence is so strong.

00;27;57;55 - 00;28;02;02
In addition,
the center's courses are another way

00;28;02;02 - 00;28;05;02
to dig deeper into this information.

00;28;05;27 - 00;28;08;23
you can sign up at the center's website,

00;28;08;23 - 00;28;11;23
which is centerforpartnership.org

00;28;11;47 - 00;28;15;04
There will also be a link
in the show notes for today's

00;28;16;06 - 00;28;17;05
episode.

00;28;17;15 - 00;28;20;16
So Riane, before we end our discussion,
I wonder

00;28;20;16 - 00;28;24;32
if you have any final closing words
for our listeners.

00;28;25;49 - 00;28;28;58
Well, I believe in human creativity.

00;28;30;10 - 00;28;32;50
And if we know, it's

00;28;32;50 - 00;28;37;23
not just about deconstruction
about disruption.

00;28;37;39 - 00;28;40;39
This work is about reconstruction

00;28;41;10 - 00;28;44;10
and we have historically

00;28;44;31 - 00;28;46;35
learned that people

00;28;46;35 - 00;28;49;54
respond much better to

00;28;50;03 - 00;28;53;03
if we know what we're trying to build.

00;28;53;58 - 00;28;56;57
That is so very, very important.

00;28;57;46 - 00;29;00;44
And that's what this work is all about,

00;29;00;44 - 00;29;04;45
is to not just show
what we're trying to leave behind, but

00;29;04;47 - 00;29;10;52
what are we trying to build and we’re always back
to the four cornerstones

00;29;11;41 - 00;29;15;20
of family and childhood, of gender
which are marginalized, ignored.

00;29;16;37 - 00;29;17;37
Economics.

00;29;17;37 - 00;29;22;05
But a new economics, a caring
economics of partnerism

00;29;22;28 - 00;29;26;49
and yes story and language
especially our stories

00;29;26;49 - 00;29;31;55
about human nature,
which are false, which are untrue.

00;29;32;09 - 00;29;35;09
And we're finding out
from the neuroscience

00;29;35;27 - 00;29;38;27
and from many, many disciplines, really.

00;29;38;30 - 00;29;43;20
And for example, we feel good,
don't we, when we care for others,

00;29;44;10 - 00;29;47;21
whether it's for a lover or for

00;29;47;55 - 00;29;51;04
a mother or a father, for a child,

00;29;51;14 - 00;29;55;03
even for a pet, that's human nature.

00;29;55;32 - 00;29;59;40
We want caring connections
and we need a social,

00;29;59;56 - 00;30;03;46
economic and political and family system

00;30;04;17 - 00;30;07;15
that rewards this.

00;30;07;15 - 00;30;10;28
And we can have it, we have had it.

00;30;11;01 - 00;30;12;02
And we can.

00;30;12;02 - 00;30;15;09
And there are millions of people in the world in

00;30;15;09 - 00;30;18;09
bits and pieces trying to build it.

00;30;18;18 - 00;30;20;08
So let's do it.