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Hi there, at the moment I am looking into control mechanisms the gouvernment uses in different countries to check stainer schools. What I got is: In the Netherlands steiner schools have to participate in regular statewide tests (CITO toets) to show that their pupils are learning the same skills in the same time frame, starting in year 3 of their school system (starts with the age of 4). In the UK there is Ofsted. A non ministerial department of the gouvernment, that does check schools and writes reports. In France there is MIVILUDES an intern ministerial government agency that checks cultic tendencies an people can report to them when they have a bad experience. They observe anthroposophic organisations for more than 2 decades. In 2024 France made a new law they call “Gatel”, that allows them to make unannounced inspections. The Swedish Gouvernment does take controlling schools seriously and “Skolinspektionen” is checking out steiner schools regularly for decennia already - as far as I know. Do you know more from your countries? Until now I also could not find any serous inspection that had an overall good outcome for Steiner schools. Any help is welcome. I will dig deeper anyway, but since we have international expertise in this group I would highly appreciate your input. Alle the best Lea

Starting later this month, the Research on Anthroposophy Network is sponsoring a series of online presentations marking the centennial of Rudolf Steiner's death. All are free and open to the public. Most will be in German; my presentation in July will be in English. Speakers include Ansgar Martins, Helmut Zander, Ann-Kathrin Hoffmann, and others. The dates, topics, and further information are available here: https://cas-e.de/2025/04/01/steiner-2025-vortragsreihe-steiner-2025-lecture-series/ Steiner 2025 Vortragsreihe / Steiner 2025 Lecture Series von / by CAS-E Associated Scholar Dr. Diana Lunkwitz Die Vortragsreihe, organisiert von dem Research on Anthroposophy Network (RAN), ist dem 100. Jahrestag von Rudolf Steiners (1861–1925) Tod gewidmet. In der Re cas-e.de Please feel free to join us. Peter S.

Welcome to new people. When a new subscription is made, the system automatically makes the subscriber’s posts moderated until a moderator can confirm that they are posting appropriate material for the list and not advertising. This inevitably leads people to believe their first message is lost or rejected. This time of year I may be missing for up to two weeks at a time, so please be patient. -Dan Dugan Moderator

Thanks to many of you for your thoughtful and well-researched posts. I went to Waldorf schools in the US, grades 1-6 at one and 7-12 at another. I also have Anthroposophical parents. In the process of healing myself and exploring my past, I've been reading some Steiner, tuning into Anthros on Youtube and searching for critical voices. I lived in an Anthroposophical community and wasn't supported by anyone~ family, extended family, community or school. I've always seen that as having been a problem in society at large which was reflected in all institutions. Things like benign neglect, lack of emotional intelligence on the part of adults and a lack of willingness to step out of their comfort zone to nurture a child who's obviously struggling. I can accept those things when they're in the culture at large but the anger comes in when a spiritual community, that supposedly supports the development of the whole child, fails completely. But maybe neglect was justified in their minds because, well, it was just my karma. Thanks again to all of you. I wanted to introduce myself and say I've been trying to catch up to all the past posts in the last month. ~Jen

Hello all, on a lighter note… I’ve just read this argument pro vaccination (from the archives) by Roger Rawlings: /g/waldorf-critics/message/31197?p=%2C%2C%2C20%2C0%2C0%2C0%3A%3ACreated%2C%2CSeat+belt%2C20%2C2%2C0%2C59745057 It mentiones seat belts as a comparison. The argument for vaccination is even better than the argument for wearing seat belts, according to Roger. This made me think of a situation, in which a then co-worker of mine, in an anthroposophical organisation, intentionally did not wear his seat belt. I remember being astonished, because I thought the only reason not to wear your seat belt was because you forgot. But he put on the seat belt when there was a police car in sight and afterwards put it off again immediately. Unfortunately I didn’t ask him about it. He was very into anthroposophy - a real believer. So my questions are these: where does this behaviour come from? Does it have a link with anthroposophy? Did Steiner mention seat belts in his lectures (not many cars around back then)? Have some of you seen similar behaviour? If you say the argument for vaccination is better than for seat belts, does that even work on people who believe you should not wear a seat belt for some reason in the first place? PS: a little search on the internet revealed that there is a broader movement of people not wearing seat belts intentionally, as an anti-government statement (or pro-freedom if you wish). That makes me think: do anthroposophists wear bike helmets? ;-) Just curious (as always), kokanje

I'm collecting a stack of links to articles and audio-broadcasts that have appeared in the German-language press in the last few days to mark Rudolf Steiner's death 100 years ago. Please forgive me for not providing any summaries. This one is in english - Christina Burack, yahoo https://www.die-tagespost.de/kultur/feuilleton/also-sprach-dr-steiner-art-261817 - Helmut Zander in Neue Züricher Zeitung https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/rudolf-steiner-sein-vermaechtnis-ist-lebendig-aber-schwer-greifbar-ld.1877004 - Audio-Broadcast for Schweizer Fernsehen https://www.srf.ch/kultur/gesellschaft-religion/100-todestag-rudolf-steiner-das-ambivalente-erbe-des-anthroposophen - Helmut Zander at Deutschlandfunk https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/rudolf-steiner-anthroposophie-todestag-100.html - Baseler Zeitung https://www.bzbasel.ch/basel/basel-stadt/todestag-was-sind-das-etwa-alles-anthroposophen-wie-rudolf-steiner-in-der-region-basel-nachwirkt-ld.2752522 - Dirk Schuster at ORF https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20250331/789042/Steiner-und-seine-Anthroposophie-in-heutiger-Zeit - Ansgar Martins for Jüdische Allgemeine https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/kultur/anthroposophie-zwischen-deutschland-und-israel/ - Philip Kovce in audio-broadcast for Deutschlandfunk Kultur https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/anthroposophie-was-uns-rudolf-steiner-heute-noch-zu-sagen-hat-100.html - Philipp Pf?fflin for SWR on anthroposophy in Stuttgart https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/stuttgart/waldorfschulen-rudolf-steiner-anthroposophie-todestag-feier-demeter-weleda-waldorfpaedagogik-100.html - Peter Bierl for nd-aktuell https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1190144.anthroposophie-vor-jahren-starb-rudolf-steiner-der-proto-schwurbler.html - Christoph Schmidt for kath.ch https://www.kath.ch/newsd/magier-seiner-zeit-heute-vor-100-jahren-starb-der-anthroposoph-rudolf-steiner/ - Steve Ayan for Spektrum der Wissenschaft https://www.spektrum.de/news/100-todestag-von-rudolf-steiner-ein-freigeist-will-nach-oben/2251929 - Jan Grossarth for Die Welt https://www.welt.de/kultur/plus255823460/Rudolf-Steiner-Der-seltsame-Prophet.html - Tina Hartmann for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung https://www.faz.net/aktuell/karriere-hochschule/klassenzimmer/100-todestag-rudolf-steiner-waldorfschulen-und-ihre-verdienste-110385947.html - Manuel Opitz for Stern https://www.stern.de/geo/-rudolf-steiners-gedankenwelt-ist-an-waldorfschulen-heute-omnipraesent--35593090.html - Carina Kriebernig for E?linger Zeitung https://www.esslinger-zeitung.de/inhalt.rudolf-steiner-festival-in-stuttgart-eintauchen-in-eine-fremde-welt.6bb15588-b39f-4cbc-ba5a-0c23674dfc9b.html - Gerrit Friedrich for Nau.ch https://www.nau.ch/people/aus-der-schweiz/rudolf-steiner-ein-leben-fur-die-anthroposophie-66948905 - Alexsandra Katz for E?linger Zeitung https://www.esslinger-zeitung.de/inhalt.100-todestag-von-rudolf-steiner-warum-stuttgart-die-hauptstadt-der-anthroposophie-ist.1063ebbc-1cb5-43f8-924c-b2422b6d264d.html - "Fewer children at Waldorf schools", SRF https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/100-todestag-rudolf-steiner-rudolf-steiner-schulen-weniger-kinder-und-finanzielle-probleme - Michael Lehmann on Biodynamik for SWR https://www.swr.de/swr1/sonntagmorgen-2025-03-30-rudolf-steiner-100.html - Daniel V?lzke for monopol-magazin https://www.monopol-magazin.de/100-todestag-von-rudolf-steiner-kunst - Torsten Wahl for Berliner Zeitung https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/tv-medien/eine-arte-doku-verirrt-sich-in-der-biografie-von-rudolf-steiner-li.2309133 - Lübecker Nachrichten https://www.ln-online.de/kultur/regional/anthroposophie-in-luebeck-wo-die-umstrittenen-ideen-von-rudolf-steiner-bis-heute-wirken-SKRECCNZ3NBDPOL6XTYQU5YQ3Y.html - Ralf Sonnenberg at haGalil https://www.hagalil.com/2025/03/rudolf-steiner/ - Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung https://www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de/news/artikel/2025/03/29/rudolf-steiner-und-sein-erbe-in-der-medizin - Plattform J https://www.plattformj.ch/artikel/231094/ - Stern employee and former Waldorf student Nikolas Janitzki https://www.stern.de/gesellschaft/waldorfschule-myth

Harvard Divinity School is planning a conference for Steiner's death centenary, with a call for papers : https://pes.hds.harvard.edu/steinerconference Call for Papers This conference marks the centenary anniversary of Rudolf’s Steiner’s death. The driving force behind the esoteric and social reform movement of anthroposophy, Steiner left behind a complicated and transregional legacy. Considering the small number of participants in the movement's first decades, there are few spiritual currents of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that have attracted as much public attention as anthroposophy—and few spiritual leaders who have been subject to as much scrutiny, both critical and sympathetic, especially in the German-language context. Following a twenty-year period that has seen a huge increase in the quality and the quantity of the scholarship on Steiner and anthroposophy, the centennial of Steiner's death in 1925 offers a perfect opportunity for scholars, practitioners in areas of “applied anthroposophy,” such as Steiner education and biodynamic agriculture, and interested members of the public to come together to debate major issues. While much of the key scholarship is still only available in German, and some only in other languages including Hebrew and Norwegian, the last decade or so has also seen breakthroughs in anglophone publications in the field, such as Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race in the Fascist Era (2014), Dan McKanan's study of Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism (2017), Helmut Zander’s article on “Rudolf Steiner and the Zeitgeist around 1900” (pub. 2021), and also significant publications in English translation, including Martina Maria Sam's The Library of Rudolf Steiner (2024; five translators). Parallel to this, the German-language Critical Edition of Steiner's Writings [Schriften—Kritische Ausgabe], with Christian Clement as general editor, has brought out eleven themed volumes since 2013, each complemented by forewords from world experts in the study of western esotericism. This conference will build on such scholarship, while not forgetting the work conducted by the administrators of Steiner’s literary estate—which includes thousands of manuscripts—in preparing quality publications of much archival material in digital and print editions. Our conference goal is to offer new perspectives on Steiner and critical approaches to his legacy, which has been extremely fruitful in multiple fields, from education and organic farming to modern art and architecture. By bringing together a diverse range of scholars and researchers, we hope to shed new light on this legacy and provide a forum to explore complex issues.

In recognition of Steiner's death a hundred years ago tomorrow, there has been a fair bit of media attention in Germany. Deutsche Welle just ran a piece in English yesterday titled "Waldorf schools and Weleda founder: Who was Rudolf Steiner?": https://www.dw.com/en/waldorf-schools-and-weleda-founder-who-was-rudolf-steiner-really/a-71920999 Waldorf schools and Weleda founder: Who was Rudolf Steiner? 03/28/2025 March 28, 2025. One hundred years after his death, Steiner is a household name in Germany and his Waldorf schools can be found the world over. Yet the spiritual leader himself — and ... www.dw.com A more extensive segment aired on one of Germany's major radio broadcasters under the title "Rudolf Steiner - Verehrter Prophet, gef?hrlicher Ideologe" (Rudolf Steiner: Revered Prophet, Dangerous Ideologue). It is a 30 minute program, with a range of interviews, including a biodynamic farmer and Philip Kovce from the Rudolf Steiner Archive in Dornach. Some of the best interview material comes from religious studies scholar Ansgar Martins. Toward the end there are some excerpts from an interview with me as well. Overall it is pretty well done. The full recording can be found here: https://www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/das-wissen/anthroposoph-rudolf-steiner-verehrter-prophet-gefaehrlicher-ideologe/swr-kultur/14351917/ Das Wissen · Anthroposoph Rudolf Steiner - ARD Audiothek Vor 100 Jahren starb Rudolf Steiner, der Begründer der Anthroposophie. Bis heute sind er und seine Lehre umstritten. Von Lukas Meyer-Blankenburg (SWR 2025 ... www.ardaudiothek.de The transcript is here: file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/Anthroposoph%20Rudolf%20Steiner%20%E2%80%93%20Verehrter%20Prophet,%20gef%C3%A4hrlicher%20Ideologe-Das%20Wissen-2025-03-28.pdf If others learn of additional media discussions of Steiner, please let us know. Peter S.

Good Morning. The German TV journalist Jan B?hmermann has made an interesting Broadcast about the Psychosekte Falun Gong. I have never heard of Falun Gong before. Like the Anthroposophical Movement, Falun Gong has its own press, but Falun Gong's press is much bigger. I wonder if there is crossover or refrences such as between anthroposophical magazin Info3 (see 11/2024) and the German far-right online-magazine “Nius” for example. After a quick search, I have so far only found two articles in Falun Gong's “Epoch Times” in which Rudolf Steiner is mentioned. However, I am also interested in such crossovers, also with other actors. https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/raising-deeply-ethical-children-the-first-7-years-2773628 (about education) https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/the-matrix-re-release-on-its-25th-year-anniversary-5728089 (about transhumanism and the Matrix-movies) Here is the Broadcast by Jan B?hmermann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2YIpYypvss Greetings Finn

Dear Victor, Please take care when writing your posts to address the ideas being presented, rather than the personalities of your list-mates. Thank you, -Dan Dugan Moderator On Mar 22, 2025, at 4:24 AM, victor Dijk via groups.io <victorisincamalot@...> wrote: I don't like that people constantly throw around the term far right so thoughtlessly. It shows a lack of maturity. Op za 22 mrt 2025 om 12:17 schreef Finnef via groups.io <vollnormaleforschung@...>: Hello victor. What you are saying adds nothing to this topic, you rather tell us something about yourself, and that makes me thinking I'm behind something interesting. Cheers! Finn

Hello, the German documentary filmmaker Rüdiger Sünner wrote an article for the last issue of Info3 in which he brings together Wittgenstein's thoughts on language and religion with Steiner. https://zeitschrift-info3.de/zeitschrift-info3/aktuelle-ausgabe/aktuelle-ausgabe/ Does anyone know if there have been other attempts like this? Liebe Grü?e Finn

A friend in the UK sent this to me: https://www.ukcolumn.org/blogs/is-spiritual-science-science-the-flawed-legacy-of-rudolf-steiner Is “spiritual science” science? The flawed legacy of Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was an unconventional Austrian philosopher, spiritual explorer, educationalist and environmentalist. Centres, groups, schools and other associations descending from his work are now widespread throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and North America, with further centres scattered through numerous other countries, including Egypt and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. www.ukcolumn.org

Our listmate Lea has a new column in today's taz: https://taz.de/Glueckliche-Momente-in-der-Waldorfschule/!6068333/ She offers a personal perspective on her own Waldorf experience, which will sound familiar to some here (a generally positive experience at the time), and reflects on reasons why that may have been the case, and how it relates to her critical viewpoint now. As Lea notes, this is a dynamic that comes up frequently in public discussion of Waldorf education. The column is as always very much worth reading. Peter S.

So the other day I had a call from my old pal Ahriman. He asked if I had tried a few of his latest inventions – in particular Large Language Models. “As the master of the material world,” he said to me, “I can assure you there is nothing illusory or ‘artificial’ about this form of intelligence. In fact, AI is very real and this is only the beginning!” Hmmm . . . let’s see how a few of the models answer two simple questions: Microsoft Co-pilot: My question: In a few sentences, who was Rudolf Steiner? Sent by Copilot: “Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (1861–1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, and claimed clairvoyant. He gained recognition as a literary critic and authored works like “The Philosophy of Freedom.” In the early 20th century, he founded anthroposophy, a spiritual movement influenced by German idealist philosophy and theosophy123. His teachings aimed to synthesize science and spirituality, and he contributed to areas such as Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine. Steiner’s epistemology emphasized thinking as a form of perception, akin to the eye or ear1. 1en.wikipedia.org2britannica.com3famousphilosophers.org “ My question: why are Waldorf Schools controversial? Sent by Copilot: Waldorf Schools have faced several controversies, which I’ll summarize for you: Academic Focus: Critics argue that Waldorf schools delay traditional literacy and numeracy instruction until later ages, emphasizing social skills, creativity, and practical sciences. However, studies show that Waldorf students tend to perform well academically by the time they reach middle school1. Lack of Technology: Waldorf schools avoid technology until around age 7 and continue to de-emphasize it. While this aligns with their focus on natural environments, it can put students at a disadvantage in a tech-driven world1. Mystical Nature: Some critics point out the mystical aspects of anthroposophy (the spiritual philosophy behind Waldorf education) and how Steiner’s esoteric ideas are incorporated into the curriculum2. Vaccine Hesitancy: Waldorf schools have been linked to outbreaks of infectious diseases due to vaccine hesitancy among many Waldorf parents2. Religious Sect Allegations: A group called “People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools” filed a federal lawsuit alleging that anthroposophy is a “religious sect,” and taxpayer-funded Waldorf charter schools are unconstitutional3. Despite these controversies, Waldorf schools continue to attract parents who appreciate their holistic approach to education. “ Chat GPT 4: My question: In a few sentences, who was Rudolf Steiner? ChatGPT said: “Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, and esotericist. He is best known for founding anthroposophy, a spiritual movement that emphasizes the integration of science, art, and spirituality. Steiner's work influenced various fields, including education (Waldorf schools), agriculture (biodynamic farming), and medicine (anthroposophical medicine). His teachings combined elements of Western philosophy, Christian mysticism, and Eastern thought, aiming to develop a deeper understanding of the human being and the cosmos.” My question: Why are Waldorf Schools controversial? Chat GPT 4: “Waldorf schools, founded by Rudolf Steiner, are controversial for several reasons: Anthroposophical Foundations: Waldorf education is rooted in Steiner's anthroposophy, which includes spiritual and esoteric beliefs. Critics argue that these teachings are sometimes subtly integrated into the curriculum, raising concerns about the separation of education and religion. Educational Methods: The Waldorf approach emphasizes creativity, imagination, and delayed academic instruction, particularly in reading and writing. Some critics believe this delay can disadvantage children academically compared to more traditional educational methods. Vaccination Policies: Some Waldorf schools have been linked to low vaccination rates among students, leading to concerns about public health risks, particularly in the context of pr

Hi all, what comes from anthroposophical banking, can be seen in Belgium and the Netherlands. Triodos bank, managed to evaporate 1.2 billion euros (about the sam amount in dollars) by mismanagement of their bank certificates. Certificate owners might never see their money again. It’s hard to make the connection with anthroposophy, but their system was ‘unique’ in the banking landscape and had almost no safety buffers. greetings, Kokanje

Hi folks, New post from old time member, Adam Jacobs. Took Waldorf Training courses, critic of racism and anthroposophy, public school teacher in Vermont now! :) This is a question for Peter Staudenmaier, or anyone really, when I started to read more and more about RFK my jaw dropped to the ground. This felt like the greatest example of eco-fascism in our country: the synthetic combination of alternative health lifestyle with far right politics. Peter, do you agree? Do you have anything to add? Forgive me if you all spoke about this already--just ignore it then! Thanks, Adam

Hi all, inspired by Finn’s and my own questions, I kept roaming the internet and encountered a very interesting podcast ‘The secret history of Western esotericism’. Unfortunately there is no episode on Steiner (yet), but there is an episode on the impact of Theosophy on Western culture and more specifically the study of religious studies. It is very strange and specific, but I do recommend it. Check out the episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FnKeg9Et6H3KEJdayBOHc?si=ZO6M6ZqaQvK9xp0xqnFrcg And the book, for those who want to read about it. https://www.amazon.com/Theosophy-Study-Religion-Aries-Book/dp/9004694153 It’s amazing how the influence of Theosophy got ‘forgotten’ in the later half of the 20th century. Greetings, Kokanje

Hi all, I'm happy to hear so much news from you again since the beginning of the year, but the reports about the fires in California are shocking. Unfortunately, I don't take much time for discussions, and my poor English often prevents me from doing so. But there is one topic that has become very important to me and I would like to know whether this topic is also being discussed in other countries. Here it is: The German-Swiss Sylvia Sasse wrote a book in 2023 in which she describes a political phenomenon that she calls “reversal into the opposite” ("Verkehrung ins Gegenteil"). Well-known examples of these reversals are the war attack against Ukraine, which Putin justified with the lie of fighting Nazis, and Trump's tricks in the election campaign. Sasse's book is largely compiled from articles that can be read online. - https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/verkehrungen-ins-gegenteil-zur-karnevalisierung-von-politik/ - https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/die-fake-alternative/ - https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/monologische-vielfalt/ - https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/der-forensische-blick/ One of these articles has even been translated into English. - https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/in-the-depths-of-disinformation-self-experimentation-with-rt/ I find Sasse's work very helpful in the context of anthroposophical apology. For example on the website “anthroposophy-against-racism”. Ansgar Martin has already pointed out in an article for a German skeptic magazine that Wolfgang Müller uses reversal (or inversion? I'm not sure what's the best word for "Verkehrung" oder "Umkehrung" in English) to equate criticism of anti-Semitism with anti-Semitism itself on the AGiD-Webside (skeptiker, 2/2023, p. 66-71). I see potential for reversals everywhere on this website, because it is much more about criticism of criticism of racism than criticism of racism itself. It is worth noting that the authors of the websites repeatedly cite increased criticism of Rudolf Steiner's and anthroposophy's racism during the coronavirus pandemic as the cause of their initiative. It is therefore not a selfless initiative against racism, as the name of the domain suggests (“Anthroposophy against Racism”), otherwise the murder of George Floyd by a policeman would have been an obvious reason to launch such an initiative. So much for my reason for presenting Sylvia Sasse's work in this forum for anthroposophical criticism. I think Sasse's thoughts are also very helpful beyond that. I wonder, for example, if Wouter J. Hanegraaff made such a reversal on Facebook when he compared Trump's re-election in November to the French Revolution, not mentioning the obscurantism Trump used to win the election. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EtRzBwcve/ (posted on November 9, 2024) But the most important question for me is to the participants in this forum: Do you know of any work similar to Sylvia Sasse's on “reversal into the opposite”? ... For those who want to delve much deeper into the subject of reversals, I have something very special from my own repertoire. An important basis for Sylvia Sasse is her work on Michael Bachtin. I only knew Bakhtin through my own research on Hellboy-comics, which I started in connection with my research on esotericism. An American researcher has written an apologetic study on stereotypes in the Hellboy story “The Crooked Man”. He uses Bakhtin to argue that these stereotypes are satirical in Bakhtin's sense. I've been reading these comics for 20 years and I doubt their author had such sophisticated thoughts when writing his comics. I suspect that these stereotypes are in the comics because the author adopted them uncritically, or perhaps simply knew nothing about them. I'm not an expert, and in case of Hellboy-comics I have to battle my own tendency to be apologetic. Anyone who would like to know more about my thoughts on this is welcome to read about this on my blog. https://vollnormaleforschung.com/2024/07/14/ive-seen-him-an-he-dont-look-nothin-like-you-wer-ist-der-krumme/ Greetings Finn

I've had an interesting off-list exchange about 'racism' and 'discrimination' that involves several issues we've discussed here. Yesterday I wrote in reply to Tom: "One of the fundamental flaws of both the Frankfurt memorandum and the Dutch report, in my view, is that they conflate racial discrimination with racism. From a historical point of view, that is a major error. The question is not whether Rudolf Steiner practiced racial discrimination. The question is whether Steiner's statements about race include racist content." Some of the participants in the ongoing exchange at the Egoisten site have asked whether this distinction makes sense, and if so, what the term 'racism' would mean, other than racial discrimination. Since the same concern comes up occasionally here, I thought it could be worthwhile to re-visit the question. Tom, you are of course welcome to re-post this at the Egoisten site, or link to it there, and I apologize again that I don't have time at the moment to participate myself. The term 'racism' can refer to many things. One of the things it has always referred to is specific ideas about race. It is this sense of racism that is usually employed in discussions of Steiner's teachings on race. As far as we know, Steiner did not have personal interactions with non-white people. Discrimination has a different set of meanings, whether socially or judicially. Racial discrimination, especially in the legal sense, is a form of active practice, a way of treating people, a kind of direct application of racial ideas onto concrete persons. This is not generally at issue in discussions of Steiner's teachings about race, though it can of course arise in latter-day anthroposophical contexts, including Waldorf schools. Thus racism, in the historical sense, is among other things a set of ideas about race. It is certainly common enough for such ideas to go hand in hand with active racial discrimination, but that is by no means an inherent component of racism as such. A number of historical figures simultaneously held overtly racist beliefs while rejecting discriminatory actions. From this viewpoint, 'racism' is not necessarily a form of active discrimination, it is simply an ensemble of concretely identifiable beliefs about race and its significance. Some ideas about race are racist, and some are not. The notion of racism as a body of ideas about race is common in the historical literature on racism. George Mosse's history of European racism begins by characterizing racism as an ideology, "a fully blown system of thought" (Mosse, Toward the Final Solution: A History of European Racism, 1985, p. ix). Christian Geulen's recent history of racism describes racism as a "system for understanding the world" (Geulen, Geschichte des Rassismus, 2007). Michael Banton's entry on “Racism” in The Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies (edited by Ellis Cashmore, Routledge 2003, pp. 349-51) begins by emphasizing racism as a belief system, an ideology. Banton notes: “Up to the late 1960s most dictionaries and textbooks defined it [racism] as a doctrine, dogma, ideology, or set of beliefs.” (349) He goes on to distinguish racism from both “discrimination” and “prejudicial attitudes” while examining how all three are interlinked. The entry on “Racist Discourse” by Teun van Dijk in the same Encyclopedia (pp. 351-55) explores this interlinking further. It begins as follows: “Racist discourse is a form of discriminatory social practice that manifests itself in text, talk and communication. Together with other (non-verbal) discriminatory practices, racist discourse contributes to the reproduction of racism as a form of ethnic or “racial” domination. It does so typically by expressing, confirming or legitimating racist opinions, attitudes and ideologies of the dominant ethnic group.” (351) George Fredrickson's essay "The Concept of Racism in Historical Discourse" (which concludes his 2002 book Racism: A Short History) begins by observing that while 'racism' today often refers legitimately to a range of institutionalized forms, historically the