SOCIAL THREEFOLDING

In the aftermath of the devastating First World War, Rudolf Steiner gained a reputation as a leading social thinker. One mainstream reviewer of his book Towards Social Renewal referred to it as … perhaps the most widely read of all books on politics appearing since the war. Steiners proposals for the reconstruction of Europe and the rebuilding of societys crumbling social structure were thus publicly discussed as a serious alternative to both Communism and Capitalism.Steiners threefold ideas involved the progressive independence of societys economic, political and cultural institutions. This would be realised through the promotion of human rights and equality in political life, freedom in the cultural realm and associative cooperation in economics or business.In this carefully assembled anthology of Steiners lectures and writing, Stephen E. Usher gathers key concepts and insights to form a coherent picture of social threefolding. Apart from fundamental lectures on the theme, the volume also features the full content of Steiners unique Memoranda of 1917. The original texts are complemented with the Editors introduction, commentary and notes.