The Social Future

6 public lectures in Zurich, October 24–30, 1919 (cw 332a)

In 1919, shortly after World War I, the structure of society and the economy, both in Germany and globally, became a primary concern for Rudolf Steiner. In addition to writing The Threefold Social Order, in which he presented his ideas for social renewal, Steiner also gave lecture courses on the topic that year, including:

• Conscious Society: Anthroposophy and the Social Question (CW 189)
  
• Impulses of the Past and Future in Social Events (CW 190)
  
• Spiritual–Scientific Treatment of Social and Pedagogical Questions (CW 192)
  
• The Esoteric Aspect of the Social Question (CW 193)
  
• The Social Question (CW 328)
  

Also that year, Rudolf Steiner published his “Appeal to the German People and the Cultural World," which began: “Resting on secure foundations with the assurance of enduring for untold ages”—this is what the German people believed of their empire, founded half a century ago. Today, they can see only its ruins. Deep searching of the soul must follow from such an experience.

In The Social Future, Rudolf Steiner presents what he saw as the underlying social problems of his time and offers his approach to solutions for a more successful and equitable social future. What he has to say is remarkably suited to our time, almost a century later. His predictions have come to pass, yet few of his recommendations have been implemented on any large scale.

The Social Future is a translation from German of Soziale Zukunft (GA 332a), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, 1977.