The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (Paperback)

by Riane Tennenhaus Eisler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Accomplished feminist social theorist and activist Eisler follows up her 1987 international bestseller The Chalice and the Blade with an inquiry into the nature and causes of "the real wealth of nations" in a contrarian work of grand economic theory. She begins with her original thesis: that we inherit and inhabit a personal and social world that masculinity has built by consistently devaluing and subordinating the feminine. Pointing out the socially and ecologically destructive flaws inherent in both capitalist and socialist economies, she then asserts that our emerging global society needs a new story of what human nature and economics are and can be. For Eisler, economies are social inventions imbedded in larger social systems. She offers a clearly written and compelling account of how the masculine "dominator" mentality brought us to our present juncture, and how a feminine "partnership" mentality can help us redefine key concepts such as "value" and "needs." Citing the most recent economic data and offering numerous relevant examples of places where efforts to practice a caring economics have succeeded both in preindustrial and modern societies, such as the Nordic nations, the book is ambitious in breadth, depth and scope. Eisler delivers another impressive work that's remarkably well referenced, well argued, insightful and hopeful. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
Forward-thinking social scientist Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade (1987) and Tomorrow's Children (2000), is renowned for her innovative perspectives on relationships, education, sex, and spirituality. Now in a similar vein as Bill McKibben in Deep Economy (2007), she addresses the need for a "more equitable and sustainable economic system" based on the "essential work of caring for people and nature." Current economics fails to value the most fundamental aspects of people's daily lives, Eisler observes, and she identifies the "lack of caring" as the "common denominator" underlying grave social and environmental problems. Eisler precisely maps her detailed vision of a caring economy and diligently supports her concept with a fascinating spectrum of information and analysis of everything from how little we value child care to the true cost of war and pollution. On a deeper level, Eisler writes about how the cultural stories we absorb--women are inferior to men, nature is indestructible--perpetuate an economics that is proving disastrous. Eisler argues cogently that now is the time to invest in life. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576756297
• ISBN-13: 978-1576756294
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,949 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good, but not great, book with an inspiring theme, September 9, 2007

By	Joseph F. McCarthy (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (BK Currents (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I missed Riane Eisler's recent talk at the PARC Forum, but the abstract was so inspiring, I bought the book. As with many (all?) the other reviewers thus far, I support the basic notion of "caring economics": elevating the valuation of traditionally feminine activities such as caring and caregiving. I support partnership over domination (though don't know what to make of "hierarchies of actualization"), and the establishment of rules, tools and schools that offer a more comprehensive accounting - and accountability - within economics, that will incorporate the social and environmental dimensions more effectively, and eliminate "externalities" - costs that corporations can pass on to "external" stakeholders (as opposed to stockholders).

The other reviewers have done a great job at highlighting many of the positive aspects of this book. I wanted to offer a slightly dissenting opinion, based on three issues that bothered me. One is that I believe the book is about twice as long as it needs to be. There is considerable redundancy, and by the last few chapters, I found myself growing increasingly annoyed as she repeatedly repeated ideas and themes covered [well] in other chapters. As with some other books I've read, it strikes me as a potentially fabulous journal-length article that was stretched too far. A brief perusal of her paper on "Work, Values, Caring" available on her PartnershipWay web site suggests that this paper may cover much of the content in the book, in a much shorter space.

A second shortcoming I see in the book is a lack of reference to either Milton Mayeroff's classic work ON CARING or to Yochai Benkler's more recent paradigm-shifting book, THE WEALTH OF NETWORKS: HOW SOCIAL PRODUCTION TRANSFORMS MARKETS AND FREEDOM. The book is replete with many useful references, and every author must be selective about the references she or he includes, but I would think that either of the two aforementioned books would be required reading for anyone interested in caring economics.

The third shortcoming I see in this book is its rather pre-emptory dismissal of "selfish genes". I recently [finally] read THE SELFISH GENE, by Richard Dawkins, and although I like to believe in (and practice) altruism, I had to admit that Dawkins makes a compelling case for how and why our genes are selfish operators ... and thus why altruism doesn't make sense at the genetic level. Now, we are not our genes, and I like to believe we are more than simply containers for them to propagate themselves, and as our actions - and inactions - have increasingly far-reaching impacts on others throughout our increasingly interconnected planet, there may be good reasons why caring for others (who do not carry our genes) is worthwhile, and why we might want to give up domination for partnership. However, Eisler's quick dismissal of "selfish genes" in several passages leads me to wonder whether she's read Dawkins' book, or simply the other references she invokes that take a contrarian view. She seems to be attached to making "evolutionary" claims with respect to caring economics. I think the impact can be just as strong without invoking evolution ... and invoking evolution while summarily dismissing what I view as its most compelling modern articulation only weakens the impact.

I hope we will be willing and able to redefine economics to take into account the social and environmental costs and benefits that are currently ignored. I believe that THE REAL WEALTH OF NETWORKS offers some compelling arguments for how and why we can do this. I do not recommend that people not read this book because of the shortcomings I cited - I am still glad I read the book. I just wanted to offer a perspective that may be of some value to others who are considering the book, or at least to help set expectations (for anyone who shares my prejudices).

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expand the Dismal Science to Measure and See Silver Linings of Opportunity, May 12, 2007

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (BK Currents (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

The Real Wealth of Nations is the most fundamental critique of macro and micro economics that I have ever seen. Everyone should take these points seriously.

Her bedrock critique is that economics is harmfully selective in what it chooses to measure and consider. That's like stopping mathematics with the numbers 1 though 5 and ignoring the other numbers.

Macro economics does this by paying scant, if any, attention to production and services that don't generate an exchange of money (such as raising your own children) but have an economic impact (by producing a more or less productive member of society who generates fewer or more benefits for others) or aren't in the legal economy (drug dealing) which certainly affect the "legal" economy.

Micro economics does this by encouraging decision makers to look too narrowly at close-in effects (such as company near-term profits) rather than the ripple and secondary effects (such as the benefit or harm that customers, partners, employees, the environment, and society experience which also have measurable costs and benefits). Most of those who apply micro economics would have no clue for how to consider those other dimensions.

What you don't measure will be treated like it doesn't matter. That's the rub. We are all bound up in a tradition stall that says that much of what creates a good society doesn't require such focus. But if we did focus, we would do better. I agree.

So how do we get past this? Reading The Real Wealth of Nations is a good start. You can't see all of your social conditioning until someone shows you what's missing from the paradigm. Ms. Eisler cites a lot of studies by others to get you thinking. That's good. She describes the book as a call for discussion, and I'm sure the book will succeed in that dimension. I was pleased to see that she rarely misstepped in choosing, citing, and describing the meaning of studies that I know about.

Ultimately, she sees a change in psychology as being the key to the paradigm shift: Start talking about and thinking about caring for and about others, and you'll stop being too narrowly focused. That point is a much broader one than simply critiquing economics.

In fact, I feel like what's needed is a science of improvement that's much broader than mere economics. Enough people enjoy making improvements for their own joy of succeeding that they will drive forward a lot of the changes that Ms. Eisler is concerned about creating. Others enjoy seeing benefits being created for others, and they will make progress for that reason. Still others will simply mimic what others have done to improve. If everyone learned how to make exponential improvements, most of the problems Ms. Eisler describes would soon be gone. In fact, if each person who knows how to make exponential improvements simply showed one other person how to do this each month, the whole world would know what to do within three years. I think that's a more practical solution that what Ms. Eisler proposes. If a caring attitude is added to that aptitude, great things will surely follow. That's been my experience in seeing people around the world create vast improvements in humanitarian performance through imagining, developing, and applying 2,000 percent solutions.

Bravo, Ms. Eisler!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY., May 30, 2007

By	Geoffrey Holland (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (BK Currents (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I was first introduced to Riane Eisler's work years ago through her profoundly enlightening book, THE CHALICE AND THE BLADE. I have carried her message about the value of partnership and cooperation over dominance ever since. Eisler's latest book, THE REAL WEALTH OF NATIONS, reflects on the dominant form of economics around which our world currently functions. It is a paradigm that has been in place for at least 10,000 years. The system, as currently constituted, serves the interests of the few at the great expense of the many. It has also become increasingly destructive to the environment and to the lives of the vast majority of world's people. Eisler offers an alternative vision for market economics that is inclusive rather exclusive, nurturing rather than destructive, open and transparent rather than accessible only to the privileged few sitting at the apex of human society. Solving the world's burgeoning problems requires more than treating symptoms. It requires a fundamental reshaping of the prevailing, dominance oriented economics that encourages human suffering, and environmental destruction on a massive scale. Riane Eisler's THE REAL WEALTH OF NATIONS is powerful and life affirming. The economics based on partnership and the common good that she envisions offers the best chance for creating prosperity for all the world's people while at the same time restoring and protecting our Earth's biological heritage. Written in a style that is highly accessible and also thoroughly engaging, this latest book from Riane Eisler is a gift of awareness and understanding that should be at the top of every person's reading list.