"Be the change you wish to see in the world": Anthroposophy, Sustainability, and Money among Middle-Class Argentines.
In this essay, I study the socialization of an economic ethic in Argentina's middle classes by describing the attempts to shape economic behavior in Waldorf schools located in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. I analyze this influence on economic subjectivity in two empirical dimensions: individual consu...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Ecumenical Studies Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 1 - 19 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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University of Pennsylvania Press
Spring2022
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=158081703&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 158081703 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00220558 ECU jtl: Journal of Ecumenical Studies issn: 00220558 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Spring2022 vid: 57 iid: 2 pid: 4636 pub: University of Pennsylvania Press artinfo: ui: 158081703 10.1353/ecu.2022.0019 ppf: 1 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 346KB tig: atl: "Be the change you wish to see in the world": Anthroposophy, Sustainability, and Money among Middle-Class Argentines. aug: au: Funes, María Eugenia su: Anthroposophy Middle class School discipline Weber, Max, 1864-1920 Steiner, Rudolf, 1861-1925 Suburbs Sustainability Group reading Modernity Argentina Buenos Aires (Argentina) sug: subj: Argentina Buenos Aires (Argentina) Anthroposophy Middle class School discipline Weber, Max, 1864-1920 Steiner, Rudolf, 1861-1925 Suburbs Sustainability Group reading Modernity keyword: anthroposophy economic behavior socialization ab: In this essay, I study the socialization of an economic ethic in Argentina's middle classes by describing the attempts to shape economic behavior in Waldorf schools located in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. I analyze this influence on economic subjectivity in two empirical dimensions: individual consumption and sustainable practices; and communal decision-making. I focus both on the attempts to instill and practice specific economic principles and on the practical and structural limits actors and communities face when trying to change the principles that guide their behavior. Drawing from a qualitative research strategy, this essay shows that, even if this economic ethic is lived as countercultural, it is aligned with neoliberal principles and often fails to address the economic inequalities and injustices within its own domain. The purpose of this essay is to show that the impact of spiritual ideas on economic subjectivities in Latin America is present among middle classes, historically characterized as a model of modernity and, therefore, secularism. I aim to achieve this purpose by showing the impact of spiritual disciplines and practices in the building of economic subjectivities among Argentina´s middle classes. I will illustrate my argument by analyzing the diffusion of anthroposophy among a part of Buenos Aires' middle classes that get in touch with this discipline in Waldorf schools where they educate their children. I will organize my exposition in three moments. In the first part, I will describe Rudolf Steiner's Social Threefolding Theory, which synthesizes anthroposophy's suggestions for the organization of society, with a special emphasis on economics. Then, I will analyze the diffusion of this theory in workshops and reading groups, organized locally by men and women involved with Waldorf schools. Here, I will show not only the ideas proposed by organizers about the right ways of orienting economic practices, but also the comments, memories, and tensions mentioned by participants. Finally, I will describe some alternative economic organizations, created among these societies, that aim to achieve a "better world" by applying these theories to Argentine society. By means of this analysis, I will argue that, even if suggesting intimate and, in Max Weber's terms, mystical models of spirituality, these contemporary versions of anthroposophy encourage people to change their worldly actions as a way to "change the world," thus developing a world-oriented model of spirituality. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of Ecumenical Studies is the property of University of Pennsylvania Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of Ecumenical Studies holder: University of Pennsylvania Press dt: @attributes: year: 2022 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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