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For nearly a century, the worldwide anthroposophical movement has been a catalyst for environmental activism, helping to bring to life many modern ecological practices such as organic farming, community-supported agriculture, and green banking. Yet the spiritual practice of anthroposophy remains unknown to most environmentalists. A historical and ethnographic study of the environmental movement, Eco-Alchemy uncovers for the first time the profound influences of anthroposophy and its founder, Rudolf Steiner, whose holistic worldview, rooted in esoteric spirituality, inspired the movement. Dan McKanan shows that environmentalism is itself a complex ecosystem and that it would not be as diverse or as transformative without the contributions of anthroposophy.
Price: $70.00
Pages: 312
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
31 October 2017
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520290051
Format: Hardcover
Eco-Alchemy makes a solid case for the importance of anthroposophist initiatives to the evolution of modern environmentalism. . . . It deserves a wide readership among those interested in esoteric spirituality, environmental politics, and the controversial interaction between religion and public affairs.
“An especially timely book. . . . A valuable resource for students of new religions, environmentalism, agrarianism, organics, the western esoteric tradition, and, of course, Steiner’s unique addition to the world’s religious ecology. It is an important addition to scholarship on new religions. . . . A fine primer on the religion itself.”
Dan McKanan is the Emerson Senior Lecturer at Harvard Divinity School and the author of several books on religion and social transformation, among them Touching the World: Christian Communities Transforming Society and Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Ecology of Environmentalism
Seed
Rudolf Steiner’s Holistic Vision
Roots
Biodynamics and the Origins of Organic Agriculture
Branches
Anthroposophical Initiatives and the Growing Environmental Movement
Flowers
New Economies for Environmentalism
Fruit
The Broader Ecology of Camphill
Ecology
The Boundaries of Anthroposophy
Evolution
Anthroposophy’s Gifts to the Environmental Movement
Notes
Index
Introduction: The Ecology of Environmentalism
Seed
Rudolf Steiner’s Holistic Vision
Roots
Biodynamics and the Origins of Organic Agriculture
Branches
Anthroposophical Initiatives and the Growing Environmental Movement
Flowers
New Economies for Environmentalism
Fruit
The Broader Ecology of Camphill
Ecology
The Boundaries of Anthroposophy
Evolution
Anthroposophy’s Gifts to the Environmental Movement
Notes
Index