Spiritualizing Science, Scientizing Spirit: Boundary Work among Anthroposophists in Post-Truth Europe

Rudolf Steiner famously called Anthroposophy “spiritual science.” In founding the Anthroposophical Society, Steiner aimed at bringing together occult knowledge, natural science, and Christianity. Despite their official discourse, which does not deny natural science but sees it as “one layer of reality,” their followers did constitute one of the two largest groups in demonstrations against Covid-19 measures in Germany, the other group being the Neo-Nazis. This paper examines how Steiner’s concepts about science are mobilized within contemporary anthroposophical circles and beyond, particularly focusing on their official training programs conducted at their global headquarters in Dornach, Switzerland.
Employing Thomas Gieryn’s concept of “boundary work,” I look at how they try to strike a balance between spiritual knowledge that originates from the writings of Steiner and their subjective experience, and scientific knowledge of the body. In these trainings, they engage in a double movement: On the one hand, they employ a scientific language to talk about spiritual phenomena, thus authorizing their spiritual knowledge. On the other hand, they spiritualize science by claiming the centrality of subjective experience for an understanding of reality, that is at once physical and spiritual. By focusing on a variety of exercises offered to develop the spiritual organs of the “new human,” I ethnographically engage with Anthroposophy as an object of study that connects science and spirituality in a post-truth and post-pandemic Europe.