Older, educated, white
The anthroposophical work in Austria relies on the cooperation of free individuals and is largely carried by original German-speakers.
The demographic of the Anthroposophical Society and of anthroposophical events in Austria is not representative of the diversity of society in this country, particularly not in the cities: our audiences tend to be older, educated (not always in the formal sense) and white. Anthroposophical groups and branches are mostly attended by original German speakers, with occasional guests from Eastern European countries such as Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, most of whom have met anthroposophy in their home countries. I don’t have a complete overview but assume that it is similar in the anthroposophical training centres, even though their students will be considerably younger.
With the resources currently available to us we are unable to offer a programme that does justice to the societal diversity by considering language barriers, questions of education and economic circumstances.
In training and during lectures the topic of ‘cultural identity’ is occasionally addressed, and questions are asked such as whether the anthroposophical approach, or Rudolf Steiner’s approach, might be culturalist, nationalist or even racist. Such concerns can usually be allayed if one explains the historical context (of the immediate post-war period) and by pointing out that – from the anthroposophical point of view – individual identity is characterized by its ability to leave cultural backgrounds and group identities behind and to cooperate with individuals that are free in this sense.