The Threefolding Movement, 1919

Following World War I, Germany faced a period of revolutionaryupheaval and general unrest. In the midst of these tumultuous events, RudolfSteiner’s pioneering movement for social threefolding rallied around a uniqueconception. Its three principal goals were to promote human rights and equalityin political life, freedom in cultural life and associative cooperation ineconomic life. Albert Schmelzer’s engaging yetrigorous study, the most complete to date, recounts the movement’s practicalattempts to bring about social threefolding in 1919, giving lively descriptionsof the principal characters involved.

Apart from this detailed history, The Threefolding Movement,1919 offers an accomplished synthesis of the development of social thoughtand the complex politics of the day. Schmelzer presents his study ofthreefolding within the context of evolving social ideas, comparing Steiner’srelevance to key political and cultural thinkers, reformers, and radicals. Steiner emerges as a social innovator who was actively involved in the revolutionary situation of 1919, although herejected violence and was a consistent advocate of democracy.

A cursory analysis might suggest that Rudolf Steiner stood at theleft of the political spectrum, but Schmelzer shows how his social ideastranscend the right–left divisions and polarizations of contemporary politics.Social threefolding is truly a new approach to human development—a fresh way tounderstand society that allows a more creative and harmonious future.