After Capitalism: The Quest for Social Renewal

Sunday 9th August – Saturday 15th August 2009

A course at  Emerson College UK, with Michael Spence.

Michael Spence joined Emerson College in England during its early pioneering days, taking responsibility for its administration and finances. Author of the book Freeing the Human Spirit, he has lectured and taught extensively on economics and the threefold nature of society, both here and in US. He will share his latest research in this field, including elements of his new book.

The recent financial turmoil is prompting many to question the place of capitalism and the market economy and their rightness for society today. What are the alternatives? A study of the three spheres of society throws revealing light on the nature of capitalism and on the underlying faults on which it is built. Is a society structured on the three quite separate and distinct sectors a practical possibility? What would such a society be like for the individual to live in?

The threefold social organism can all too easily be viewed as little more than three streams or sectors within the present State. Rudolf Steiner’s depiction of the inner nature of human social life leads to a society in which the State as we know it disappears and the three entirely independent sectors – cultural, rights and economic – each stand on their own authority working through their own quite distinct natural laws. Can we imagine the practical realization of such a society?

This course will look at the nature of each of the three sectors of human society, and at the evolutionary forces at work in forming community, and hopefully lead towards answers to these questions. It will also help participants develop the concepts necessary to understand what is actually at work in money.

No special knowledge, abilities or study is necessary; only openness to new ideas and an interest in community and in the wider society.

Costs
Tuition: £315
Accommodation: £96
All meals: £96
(Camping: £42
Lunches only: £45)