2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Steiner. Of the many major initiatives that he brought, social threefolding was his most prominent focus in the last years of his life. He introduced it formally in his book, now variously titled Toward Social Renewal or The Core Points of the Social Question, in early 1919; he also talked with government leaders in Central Europe and worked to influence a significant vote in Upper Silesia. He nearly succeeded at both levels, and his ideas were lauded in the New York Times. This was during great tumult in Germany after its defeat in WW1. The Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia, and their socialist ideas were widely popular among disaffected workers in Germany. Steiner rejected all ideology, characterizing it as a restriction and imposition on what lives in people. Instead, Steiner sought to create conditions whereby people themselves could act creatively within the economy (through associations of all stakeholders), within politics (through more participatory forms of direct democracy), and within culture (through the autonomy of teachers, researchers, clerics, and other cultural workers). What was this Threefold Movement? Why did it fail? How does Steiner’s time compare to our time? With AI and robotics entering the workforce, and with the current polarization of our society, are the concepts of Threefolding needed even more today?
The Panel:
1) Seth Jordan. Seth is a writer and organizer who works with various organizations and groups in the US and abroad. He has worked intensively with Rudolf Steiner’s social insights (often called “social threefolding”) for many years and has written a 12-lesson distance-learning course on that topic called “Transforming Society” (educaredo.org/transforming-society). He writes about contemporary events — seeking to make sense of them from a whole society perspective — at thewholesocial.substack.com. Seth co-founded and directed Think OutWord, a peer-led training for young adults in social threefolding that ran intensive workshops and conferences for 8 years. Seth has worked with various initiatives including Free Columbia and The Nature Institute.
2) Linda Lingane. Linda trained as a Waldorf teacher in the late 1990s primarily to get more understanding of her son’s schooling. In 2014 during a group meditation, she heard “threefolding” whispered lightly as a message from the future. Upon investigating, she realized that would be the focus of the rest of her life. She wrote two short intros to threefolding geared to a general audience. In 2024 she retired from her administrative work at Stanford University in order to focus full-time on threefolding. She is part of one study group and facilitates meetings of two groups that are devoted to finding ways to implement threefolding. Education: BA, Wellesley College; MBA, University of Santa Clara
3) T. Michael Cox. Michael is the author of Money for a Threefold Society and a translator. Mike studied business, mathematics, and computer science at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He developed software, taught English in Japan and Germany, attended Emerson College in the UK, and managed an anthroposophic book and toy store in the Toronto area. He taught in Waldorf and public high schools for many years. Now retired, he focuses on social threefolding education and is closely involved in a real-world threefolding initiative happening in Kona, Hawaii.
4) Robert Karp (aka Robert Karbelnikoff). Robert is a writer, educator and social entrepreneur working out of anthroposophy. Robert is the former executive director of the Biodynamic Association in the US and has been a long-time leader in the organic, biodynamic and local food movements. His current threefolding initiatives include the Zinniker Farm Stewardship Association, Threefold Driftless, and the Anthroposophy and Social Justice Project. You can learn more about Robert and his initiatives on his new blog Metaxy: A Journey Toward Wholeness at www.robertkarp.net
5) Gary Lamb. Gary Lamb is the Director of the Hawthorne Valley Center for Social Research located in upstate New York. He has published several books on Waldorf Education and Social Threefolding and served as a Waldorf school administrator and high school teacher. His most recent book, On the Wings of Words: Conversations and Human Relations – Inner Aspects of the Fundamental Social Law and the Threefold Social Organism, was published in 2024 by SteinerBooks. Gary cofounded and edited of The Threefold Review, an independent magazine for the study of social issues in the light of Anthroposophy.
The Moderator: Andrew Linnell.
Andrew is co-founder of MysTech after a 42-year career in the field of computers. He is president of the Boston branch and a member of the Natural Science Section.
