Anthroposophy and Ecofascism 45

Paragraph 13 of Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and Ecofascism:

Anthroposophy's Racialist Ideology

Building on Theosophy's postulate of root races, Steiner and his anthroposophist disciples elaborated a systematic racial classification system for human beings and tied it directly to their paradigm of spiritual advancement. The particulars of this racial theory are so bizarre that it is difficult for non-anthroposophists to take it seriously, but it is important to understand the pernicious and lasting effects the doctrine has had on anthroposophists and those they've influenced. [Steiner's racial teachings, a crucial element of the anthroposophic worldview, are spread throughout his work. The most concentrated and most chilling presentation is to be found in volume 349 of his collected works, published by the International Anthroposophic Society in Dornach, Switzerland. For a concise overview in English see Janet Biehl's section on Steiner in Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier, Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience, San Francisco 1995, pp. 42-43.]

A minor point is that Peter Staudenmaier cites the wrong publisher (which is actually the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung in Dornach) and misnames the General Anthroposophical Society, also located in Dornach (accuracy in details, I find, is the mark of serious scholarship).

This paragraph better describes Alfred Rosenberg than Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy. Here and in the paragraph following Peter Staudenmaier fails to cite any sources. His footnote actually cites Steiner's collected works of 349 volumes (actually, the numbering goes to 354 volumes) of some 90,000 pages. Is this to indicate that Peter Staudenmaier has read all of them? I suspect not, as he has cited the wrong publisher. The International Anthroposophical Society in Dornach does not publish Steiner's complete works; the Rudolf Steiner Nachlassvervaltung is the publisher. Steiner set up a separate foundation to hold his copyrights after his death, and this foundation is a separate legal entity from the General Anthroposophical Society. I know that these are really just little nitpicking details, but getting the nitpicking details correct is the mark of serious scholarship. [For an overview of Steiner's complete works, see the Archives (online at RudolfSteiner.com). The volume numbers go from 1 to 354; however there are a number of gaps, as well as a few numbers that cover multiple volumes (for example volume 300 is actually 3 books: 300a, 300b and 300c). New volumes come out occasionally, so the total number of books is not yet fixed.]