The Forgotten Third Way
Social threefolding and its Potential for Facilitating Environmental and Social Renewal
Note: this article was first published in the Localising Leanganook e-newsletter, an excellent resource for learning about positive initiatives happening in the Leanganook and Central Victoria region. The Localising Leanganook website can be found here.
What socio-economic framework will give us the best chance of creating a thriving, ecologically sustainable society? Capitalism, socialism/communism or something else? This question, which was the subject of both a major global power struggle and intense academic debate in the 20th Century, is surely just as relevant today as it was then, if not more so. The collapse of the Soviet Union and its allies in the late 20th Century seems to have been largely triggered by the failure of their economic model, and since that time socialism and communism have largely been in retreat, notwithstanding a surge in support in the 2010s in the USA and many countries in Western Europe led by activist politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.
However on current evidence, capitalism is also failing to fulfil its promises. Poverty and inequality are rising across the world, and power is becoming concentrated in fewer and fewer hands through the concentration of ownership in media and business, undermining democratic processes. Meanwhile quality of life continues to decline for many people, forced to work longer and longer hours to make ends meet, with less and less time for all that makes life meaningful. Finally, the Earth’s ecosystems are at crisis point on multiple fronts: biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, soil degradation, resource depletion and climate change are all coming together to generate an existential crisis for the web of life and for humanity.
A Third Way between capitalism and communism
Many attempts have been made to find a ‘Third Way’ that will provide the roadmap to lead us to a healthy, prosperous society that communism and capitalism have failed to achieve. Following the Great Depression of the 1930s, a broad consensus emerged in the non-communist Global North to adopt Keynesian, social democratic economic policies, including protectionist industrial policies, public ownership of key utilities such as transport and infrastructure, publicly funded education and healthcare, and a strong welfare safety net. This was successful in bringing an era of relative stability, equality and prosperity; however the economic problems that emerged in the early 1970s, and the failure of governments to resolve these using Keynesian methods led public policy leaders to turn away from this approach and towards free-market neoliberalism, essentially a rehash of the old classical liberalism of the late 19th Century. This approach largely rejected government intervention in the market, and promoted the shrinkage of the public sector through privatisation of public services and utilities.
As neoliberal economics achieved ascendancy in the 1980s and 90s, left-leaning parties led by politicians such as Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Gerhard Schroeder sought to combine socially progressive policies with a free market, neoliberal economic platform. This move was politically successful but led to both short- and long-term negative social and economic impacts, some of which are playing out today with the rise of an impoverished, angry class in many countries who are turning towards conservative populism, as demonstrated by the support for politicians such as Marine Le Pen in France, Donald Trump in the USA and Pauline Hanson in Australia.
Social threefolding: the forgotten ‘Third Way’
Yet there are ‘Third Way’ frameworks that are more than just a politically expedient halfway compromise between capitalism and communism. One of the least known, but in my view most profound of these is what has become known as social threefolding, developed in the early 20th Century by the Austrian philosopher, educationalist and visionary Rudolf Steiner. I believe that social threefolding offers a lens through which we could develop both small- and large-scale policy that could overcome many of the problems that have been created through capitalism and socialism, and also to facilitate the urgent transition to an ecologically sustainable society. Steiner argued that the social threefolding approach wasn’t an intellectually constructed conceptual framework, but instead a reflection of the kind of society humanity is already reaching towards, albeit in a fumbling and stumbling way. He emphasised that, to be successful, social and economic structures needed to be suited to the present evolutionary stage of humanity, being neither regressive (belonging to the past) nor too advanced for our current level of moral and spiritual development. In this way, the functioning of communities and societies can support the individual and collective evolution of humanity rather than hindering it.
Steiner described the threefold society as being an ‘organism’, and this picture can help us to grasp it as a living reality rather than an abstract system. The foundation of this society is that it is built on three interconnecting spheres: the cultural sphere, the rights sphere, and the economic sphere. Whilst these three spheres are interdependent and interact with each other, they each have their own distinct identity and needs, and must be allowed to operate autonomously according to these. The core needs of each of the three spheres can be summed up in the renowned French Revolution slogan liberty, equality and fraternity, which, according to Steiner, was inspired by a vague but emerging awareness of the threefold social order. I will describe each of the spheres in turn below.
Cultural sphere
The cultural sphere governs all of those activities connected with learning and growth for the individual and society. This includes all levels of education, the arts and all forms of spiritual practice. Here, we find and develop new ideas and practices that will benefit society as a whole. It is also where we engage in work to remedy existing problems for the benefit of society – thus it includes all kinds of health care, social work and welfare. The key concept that must guide the cultural sphere is freedom: people must be free to think for themselves, try new approaches and debate the best way forward for us to gain the full benefit of their knowledge. Steiner emphasised the importance of educators having autonomy over what and how they teach for this reason, and likely would have extended the same expectation to health care professionals. A social threefolding approach also requires freedom of speech to be strongly protected, because only when there is the ability to discuss theories and practices freely can the best knowledge emerge.
Rights sphere
The rights sphere governs those institutions that determine the rules by which we live together, so that the dignity and worth of each person are honoured. This includes the political system, the legal system, and institutions that are involved in upholding and enforcing laws, including the police and a variety of government agencies (for example in Australia, the Fair Work Commission, state and local government planning officers and state environmental protection agencies). The key concept that must guide the rights sphere is equality. This reflects a belief in the sacredness of life, and the dignity of all people regardless of characteristics such as race, culture, gender, sexuality, ability or belief. Thus laws should apply equally to all people and not be differentiated based on power, privilege or personal characteristics.
Upholding human dignity also requires that individuals be treated fairly and with respect by others: hence acts that oppress or harm another person are prohibited, such as intimidation, theft, all kinds of abuse and homicide. In the workplace, the rights sphere should ensure that workers are paid fairly for their work: Steiner’s simple yet profound prescription was that each worker, no matter how grand or humble their profession, should receive sufficient payment for the product of their labours such that they and their dependents could meet all of their needs for living well until the next product should be completed. In this statement, he predated concepts such as fair trade and a living wage by several decades.
Economic sphere
The economic sphere governs all activities that are concerned with meeting our material needs for surviving and thriving in the world. At their most basic, these include shelter, food and drink, clothing and all kinds of tools and equipment for facilitating access to these. Thus this sphere governs all of those who are involved in the production, distribution and consumption of goods. The key concept that must guide the economic sphere is brotherhood/sisterhood, meaning that we engage economically with others with the goal of benefiting both ourselves and them, based on a feeling of kinship with them. Another, more contemporary term for this consciousness is solidarity. Put simply, our focus becomes co-operation rather than competition.
You will likely notice that it is in this sphere that we see the greatest departure from orthodox economic approaches. Neoliberal capitalist theory proposes that people’s primary economic motivation is self-interest, and that being free to pursue personal wants, whatever these may be is the ‘engine’ that will drive the economic activity needed to generate prosperity for the good of society. The social threefolding approach recognises that people need to be able to act autonomously to meet their economic needs, but argues that action driven by purely egotistical desires will frequently lead to destructive impacts on others, as both socialist theorists and indigenous societies have long recognised: the oppression of the weak, harm to community cohesion and the destruction of nature to name a few.
On the other hand, the motivation of free co-operation borne out of a sense of solidarity acknowledges and takes advantage of the primacy of the impulse towards survival and material wellbeing in humans, the motivation of Ananke or necessity. Yet it encourages us to bring the light of awareness to this impulse, so that we perceive that we will survive and be happiest when all of those with whom we interact economically also survive and thrive. And it recognises that, freely chosen, co-operative action is actually the most efficient and powerful way of meeting needs: indeed Steiner often pointed out that the material comforts we enjoy today are entirely dependent on our co-operation with others through the economic sphere: the farmers who grow the food that we eat, the manufacturers who produce the clothes we wear, the builders who built the house in which we live, and many others. All the social threefolding approach does is make these relationships conscious, and call on us to infuse them with a sense of solidarity, which can also be understood from the perspective of the rights sphere as respecting the rights and dignity of others.
How can social threefolding help to create a healthier, more just and sustainable society?
I have been contemplating this question over the last week, and have a few initial thoughts came to mind, though these are likely not exhaustive. Firstly, I think one of the most important things social threefolding does is to separate out the three spheres and their three different human impulses, while emphasising that each is equally important: the impulse to learn and grow, the impulse to live harmoniously and respectfully together, and the impulse to meet our needs for physical survival and health. These can be roughly mapped onto Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and like Maslow’s work, they provide an antidote to the human tendency to obsessively focus on one thing at the expense of others. For example economists often concentrate their attention solely on material prosperity, which meets the needs of the economic sphere, but ignores our need for a supportive community and opportunities to grow and express our unique potential. On the other hand, theories that concentrate exclusively on freedom of self-expression or creating a just society without considering how we are going to sustain ourselves are also not going to meet the community’s needs.
Secondly, a unique insight of social threefolding is that the work of each sphere is right for that sphere only, and they should not be muddled up. To give an example of this, we can consider those who subscribe to a libertarian philosophy, which demands freedom in all areas of life. In relation to the speech, thinking, creativity and indeed the need to ‘follow one’s own star’ – in short, the cultural sphere – this demand is a vital and justified one. But my freedom in the rights sphere must clearly be curtailed where it impacts on the rights of others, otherwise society will become either a lawless ‘Wild West’ or a place where the strong and powerful oppress the weak. In the economic sphere, freedom might seem a justifiable goal, and indeed it has a place there. But Steiner made it very clear that humanity needs to transcend egotism in the economic life, so that we each employ our individual gifts primarily for the benefit of the community, rather than for personal gain. It is not hard to see that we have a lot of work to do in this area at this point in human evolution!
Thirdly, I think that Steiner’s understanding of the economic sphere brings an important theoretical ballast to our emerging sense that the desire for material gain is the wrong driver for the economic life, yet it also answers the criticisms of big state socialism – that it is inefficient and hampers individual initiative – and provides another way to approach the challenges of this area. He emphasised that the state’s role should be confined to the rights sphere, for example setting and enforcing laws regarding fair dealings between employers and workers, and between sellers and consumers. But he called for the formation of ‘associations’ that brought together the producers, distributors and consumers in any given area to collectively guide economic policy in their domain so that the needs of each group are met. This is a radical idea that, as far as I’m aware, hasn’t been applied on a large scale in any society. But we can see in some movements and initiatives the first stirring of the kind of social consciousness that is required to do this:
In the fair trade, food sovereignty and community supported agriculture (CSA) movements, where consumers and distributors choose prices that are sufficient to meet the needs of the producer;
In various forms of ethical and social impact investing, notably the Triodos Bank, where borrowers and lenders sit down at a yearly meeting to work out an interest rate that will balance the needs of each group
In the co-operative movement, especially those co-operatives that are set up at a community level to meet an identified community need; and also in community businesses that are operated for the same reason, such as the Bendigo Bank community bank model
Finally, because social threefolding shifts the focus of the economic life to co-operatively meeting needs, it is highly compatible with the need to transition to an ecologically sustainable way of life that is confronting humanity in this time, as has been articulated in the environmental, degrowth and transition towns movements. Steiner’s emphasis on cultivating a reverence for life infuses all his teachings, and echoes those who call for us to reawaken our deep connection with nature, what Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh called our sense of ‘interbeing’, our sense of wonder before its sacred mystery, and our responsibility to protect it, as indigenous cultures the world over recognise. At the same time, social threefolding offers a practical pathway to a new economic and social life that does not require us to become egoless, perfect beings, nor machines, but real human beings learning, loving, striving and growing together towards the better world our hearts know is possible. And the beauty of it is that we can begin to implement this awareness at any level: individual, family, workplace or community – it doesn’t have to begin on a whole of society level.
I hope that this introduction to social threefolding has given you a glimpse into this profound social model and its potential for transforming our future. There is much more to it than I have articulated here, so please explore the references below if you would like to go deeper. Note that the Wikipedia entry on social threefolding is an excellent, accessible place to start.
References:
Goetheanum Section for Social Sciences (nd.). Threefolding 100 years 1919 – 2019. Accessed on 25/08/2023 from https://socialnew.goetheanum.org/threefolding/
Large. M. (2016). Rudolf Steiner’s Vision for our Social Future: Openings for Social Threefolding. New View, 81, 3 – 9.
Steiner, R. (2000). Towards Social Renewal: Rethinking the Basis of Society. Translated by Matthew Barton. Hudson NY: Anthroposophic Press. (Note: an online translation is also available at http://www.threefolding.org/archiv/800.html.
Wikipedia (nd.) Social Threefolding. Accessed on 25/08/2023 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_threefolding