Anthroposophy and the Social Justice Research Symposium

June 14-16, 2024, Harlemville, NY.

By Elisabeth Chomko | Toronto, Canada

Late Friday afternoon, June 14, 2024, I arrived at Mettabee Farm, located in a beautiful open valley near Harlemville, NY. A large renovated barn, generously made available for community activities, was the site of our gathering. Invitations had gone out to about 80 people who were interested in the question: “What is Social Justice in the Light of Anthroposophy?” with nearly 50 people attending. When I first saw the program, the schedule struck me as impossibly packed. However, thanks to the thoughtfulness that went into the planning and facilitation, the weekend felt uplifting rather than burdensome.

Over the course of almost two days, 14 speakers shared their research in brief, 15-minute presentations. The intention, however, was not just dissemination of ideas. The organizers wanted to instill in the event a deep gesture of listening to the other, a feature they feel is often absent from the current discourse on social justice theory and practice. Thus, after each presentation, a minute was dedicated for quiet individual reflection. This was followed by two minutes of sharing with a partner, followed by ten minutes for questions and speaker responses. After two or three such presentations, 25 minutes were allocated for a more general discussion. In a pre-gathering letter, the aim for the weekend was expressed as follows:

“...we want to create a ‘consciousness soul’ culture for this gathering that breathes the air of spiritual freedom–an approach that honors individuality, that builds from living experiences and insights, that is imbued with spiritual scientific depth. Through good facilitation and social process, we want to make possible a form of engagement with the issues, and with one another, that welcomes differences of perspective, that unites rigor with sensitivity, and that calls forth the best in us, both as speakers and listeners. Only in this way can we hope to overcome the constricted, polarizing tendencies of our current political and civil discourse.”

At our opening meeting on Friday evening, Barbarah

Nicoll called on us to apply these ideals when she reminded us that we were all co-hosts of this event. “First, host yourself, attend to the quality of your listening and speaking. Then host one another, welcome each other into the space; reach toward each other with good will. Finally, we are all responsible to co-host the purpose of the gathering. Unity of heart and mind can’t be forced, but we can create the conditions for grace to descend and help us come together as a community.”

In his introductory remarks on Friday evening, Robert Karp spoke of three mighty longings that are emerging in our time, namely, to expand our sense of what it means to be a human being; to create a social life that welcomes and nourishes the development of all human beings; and to cultivate a more living relationship with the Earth as the basis for a new kind of economy. Robert spoke of these three together as the Great Awakening and related them to a host of positive, contemporary social movements.

He then spoke of the Great Distortion , namely, a host of movements that use the language of the Great Awakening , but are in fact trying to impose new forms of hyper materialism onto humanity. He spoke of transhumanism, DEI and the global climate change agenda as examples of the Great Distortion. Robert emphasized, however, that these distortions offer an opportunity for the rebirth of anthroposophy if we can meet them courageously and sensitively. He pointed out, for example, how a narrow, sectarian approach to anthroposophy had laid the ground for the growth of DEI in our institutions, and how meeting this challenge will require us to develop a much more dynamic and living approach to spiritual science.

The 14 talks we heard over the weekend dealt with various aspects of social justice. We heard from Gary Lamb, for example, who had conducted research into Waldorf schools and DEI statements. Diane Walters and Mark McGivern spoke about the complexity of the gender question, and the problems that arise when we look at gender through the lens of equality rather than individual freedom, or when the role of the spiritual archetypes of the feminine and the masculine are left out of the discussion. We also heard from a number of Waldorf teachers struggling to stay true to the anthroposophical image of the human being in the face of various DEI mandates. What is the developmental impact on children, for example, when they are allowed to use pronouns that are different from their biological gender? And what is the impact on their peers, and on the spiritual beings who work through the realm of language?

It was also pointed out by a number of people that Rudolf Steiner’s insights into the threefold nature of society has the potential to address the deeper sources of injustice in society. Rather than seek the source of society’s problems in the realm of race relations, which tends to divide people, we need to go deeper and look to the materialistic worldviews and practices that hold in place outdated social forms which in turn foster these racial tensions. As several participants said, we need to create a different narrative, or story, about the true origins of social justice and injustice, and help nurture the social capacities and virtues that can allow us to bring healing to a society lamed by hyper materialism and polarization - which one speaker referred to as the “meta crisis” of our times.

During this weekend, there was an air of energy, anticipation and attentiveness as well as deep appreciation for being able to meet and dialogue with each other in a truly inclusive atmosphere. As the gathering drew to a close, I felt that we had resolved to carry these impulses into our lives through deep listening to one another, and a continuous cultivation of our connection to the spirit as we navigate the intense challenges of the social realm.

Thank you to all the organizers and participants for this enlightening event.

NOTE : The full program for the Symposium and more information on the Anthroposophy and Social Justice Project can be found at anthrosocialjustice.org