The
Great Divide: Prospects for an Integral Cultureby Paul Ray
All the ingredients are in place for a new
"integral" culture, according to researcher Paul Ray. Some
44 million in the US alone are people Paul Ray has identified
as "Cultural Creatives," through his public opinion research.
This article is adapted from his report to the Fetzer Institute
and the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and from an article
on the report that appeared in the Noetic Sciences Review.
Looking at the decline in incomes for North Americans, or
at the perilous state of the environment around the planet,
many of us quite reasonably feel that this time in our history
is one of unparalleled danger. It is not hard to see how
a series of disasters superimposed on each other could lead
to a decline in civilization.
But let’s consider an alternative point of view that
runs against everything we read in the daily papers. The
alternative is this: The opportunities before us are just
as real as the dangers. Our future is not an inevitable
slide into poverty and despair, nor can we celebrate our
inevitable progress into a golden future.
At the threshold of a "Great Divide" in history such as
this, the worst upset may be to know that the world diverges
sharply from everything you have known, and has been, into
the unknown. Changes from one kind of civilization to another
do not happen often in history: the invention of agriculture,
the rise and fall of conquest states and empires, the coming
of industrialism and urbanism. An earlier generation may
have been justified in discounting any further such radical
changes. We cannot.
In the next two decades our world will either be dramatically
better or dramatically worse. The one thing that cannot
happen is "more of the same." Most trends of the past are
simply not sustainable. The era of obvious steps to progress
is gone, and we face the Great Divide. It really could go
either way: Our future is not foreordained.
We are at a tipping point in civilization. This means we
have to be ready to choose a good path. The quality of our
"image of the future," and the quality of our creative efforts
based on it, will determine which way our future develops
over the next generation or two. All that is certain is
that the stakes have been raised.
Three Worldviews
On a centuries-long time scale, we have seen the rise of
modern cultural forms; and also the decline of the Modernist
paradigm. The central thesis of my research is that we are
seeing the emergence of a new cultural form, Integral Culture
– a new, constructive synthesis of Modernism and its
antithesis, Traditionalism – a synthesis which moves
beyond both while not rejecting either. A defining characteristic
of Integral Culture is that in synthesizing these other
two value systems it simultaneously legitimizes the Western
world’s deepest, common past and aims toward a transformative
future.
Compared to the rest of society, the bearers of Integral
Culture have values that are more idealistic and spiritual,
have more concern for relationships and psychological development,
are more environmentally concerned, and are more open to
creating a positive future. According to my research, this
group comprises about 24 percent of the adults in the US,
or about 44 million people. If indeed an Integral Culture
is emerging, we are experiencing a very unusual time in
history – for change in the dominant cultural pattern
happens only once or twice a millennium.
My research shows that today there are three different worldviews,
whereas just a generation ago social researchers could find
only two: Traditional and Modern. Because of the perceptual
lag that is common in our public discourse, we still talk
publicly as if there were only these two.
The dominant imagery of each current worldview in this survey
was formed in a fairly recent historical period in the US.
However, each of these three worldviews reflects a much
older stream of meanings and cultural concerns.
• The roots of today’s Traditional stream can
be traced to Medieval Europe, through traditional Catholics
and Protestants reacting to the rise of secular Modernism
after the Enlightenment, up to the anti-democratic Right
that persists today. In more recent times in the US, Traditionalism
can be traced also to rural and nativist (racist, anti-foreign)
movements from which 19th century fundamentalism arose in
reaction to Modernism in its North American form. Today’s
Heartlanders – those who carry forth the Traditionalists
views – believe in a mythical image of a return to
small town, religious America, corresponding to the period
1890 to 1930.
• The beginning of Modernism dates from around 500
years ago in Europe at the end of the Renaissance, and continued
to spread beyond Europe to its colonies throughout the period.
While Modernism may in part be seen as an overthrow of authoritarian
political and religious controls, it has important roots
in the urban merchant classes and in other creators of the
modern economy, in the rise of the modern state and armies,
and in the rise of scientists, technologists, and intellectuals.
• The roots of today’s Transmodernism appear to
be in part in the esoteric spiritual movements that grew
out of the Renaissance and continue today in the rise of
new religions, and also in the transcendental movement of
the early to mid-19th century. They are also found worldwide
in the writings of various intellectuals of the mid-20th
century, in the New Age movement, in the humanistic psychology
and transpersonal psychology movements, in the ecology movement,
and in the women’s movement, which all date from the
1960s on. This worldview is "leading edge and subject to
change," and incorporates the personal into the social and
political:
The members of this new subculture – whom I call Cultural
Creatives – offer hope that we are seeing the emergence
of an "Integral Culture" as a successor to Modernism.
What the Survey Shows
Today, bearers of Traditionalism, the Heartlanders, are
29 percent of the population, or 56 million adults. Bearers
of Modernism are 47 percent of the population, or 88 million
adults. And Cultural Creatives comprise 24 percent of the
adult population, or 44 million.
The Modernists represent the current cultural mainstream:
their current malaise about "what this modern world has
come to" is what the media emphasize, since that is where
the media themselves are centered. At 47 percent of the
population, they represent 88 million adults, with more
men than women. With this many people, they include a wide
range of incomes from lower-middle class to rich. They include
not only conventional factory and office workers, but the
technological creatives of American culture, such as engineers
and doctors, as well as business people. Among them are
various subgroups, some with a strong leanings toward spiritual
and personal growth concerns, others – such as the
Alienated Modernists – feel disheartened by modern
culture as their own prospects for the future slide.
The Heartlanders are a subculture of traditional and conservative
values and beliefs. Heartlanders are 29.6 percent of the
adult population, or 55.6 million persons. On average, their
incomes and educations tend to be lower, and they tend to
be older, than the other two subcultures.
We have seen in focus groups that they have difficulty in
handling complexity and the modern world, combined with
a reactivity against change. The ones who die are not being
replaced by nearly as many younger Heartlanders, so it is
a population in slow decline over time. The intense recruitment
and publicity by the religious right may well represent
a sunset phenomenon, a desperate attempt to recoup past
losses.
This subculture gains a sense of strength and coherence
in the face of a modern world it doesn’t like or understand
by rejecting the "other" and using the political mobilization
of traditionalism and xenophobia. It is a culture of memory:
more of them remember a vanished America, and more adhere
to remembered cultural forms.
A New Subculture
Cultural Creatives (CCs) are called that because they are
coming up with most new ideas in US culture, operating on
the leading edge of cultural change. They tend to be middle
to upper-middle class. A few more CCs are on the West Coast
than elsewhere, but they are in all regions of the country.
The overall male-female ratio is 40:60, or 50 percent more
women than men.
CCs have two wings: Core Cultural Creatives and Green Cultural
Creatives. Core CCs (10.6 percent, or 20 million) have both
person-centered and green values: seriously concerned with
psychology, spiritual life, self-actualization, self-expression;
like the foreign and exotic (are xenophiles); enjoy mastering
new ideas; are socially concerned; advocate women’s
issues; and are strong advocates of ecological sustainability.
They tend to be leading-edge thinkers and creators. They
tend to be upper-middle class, and their male-female ratio
is 33:67, twice as many women as men.
Green CCs (13 percent, or 24 million) have values centered
on the environment and social concerns from a secular view,
with average interest in spirituality, psychology, or person-centered
values. They appear to take their cues from the Core CCs
and tend to be middle class.
The CCs subculture represents the appearance of new values
and worldviews that were rare before World War II and were
scarcely noticeable even a generation ago. Faced with those
other two cultural forms, the CCs’ response is also
a withdrawal of belief in the old forms. But unlike the
alienated Moderns, the CCs are well on their way to creating
something new.
The CCs are synthesizing a new set of concepts for viewing
the world: an ecological and spiritual worldview; a whole
new literature of social concerns; a new problematique for
the planet in place of the old set of problems that Modernism
set out to solve; a new set of psychological development
techniques; a return in spiritual practices and understandings
to the perennial psychology and philosophy; and an elevation
of the feminine to a new place in recent human history.
In short, it is a good beginning for a new cultural era.
Like all cultures, an emerging new culture (whether Integral
Culture or some other major social force) is a response
to the problems of the day. All cultures exist to solve
the problems that people perceive. Modernism did solve some
of the problems it confronted, but it is no longer an appropriate
response to the nature and complexity of the problematique
facing today’s society. Much of the old problematique
persists, and, in fact, many of the "solutions" of Modernism
have contributed to the new problematique.
Cultural Creatives are a very large pool of people –
44 million – bigger than any comparable group seen
at the birth of any previous societal renaissance. The empirical
data of my survey shows that the appearance of the Cultural
Creatives since the 1970s heralds what may well be the birth
of the new and distinctive social force that I am calling
Integral Culture. But, to emphasize a point made earlier,
the realization of Integral Culture is by no means foreordained.
An Image of the Future
Our greatest error could be to take seriously the pessimistic
temper of our times, and to give in to the fear and cynicism
that pervade the media.
There is an alternative point of view. As sociologist Fred
Polak showed in his study of 1,500 years of European history,
The Image of the Future, if a whole culture holds a very
pessimistic image of the future, that image will be a self-fulfilling
prophecy. The actual predictions about decline don’t
have to be right or to come true: The pathological behaviors
released may be quite sufficient to bring about decline.
It’s a disease of belief. And the contrary is also
true. When a culture holds positive images of the future,
they may not be right, but investment in new opportunities
and willingness to build a good society are sufficient to
make a decent way of life, if not the best of all worlds.
Both Heartlanders and Cultural Creatives criticize Modernists
for their cynicism and lack of altruism. It is worth remembering
that altruism is a good support for group solidarity, and
that cynicism and alienation usually reflects group breakdowns.
CCs have the most altruism (58 percent) and least cynical
and alienated values (19 percent); 35 percent are optimistic
– despite being terribly worried about the condition
of the planet – as compared to 24 percent of each of
the other two subcultures. Heartlanders follow (altruism
at 55 percent and cynical/alienated at 29 percent), with
Modernists quite cynical and alienated (48 percent), and
weak on altruism (32 percent).
This supports my argument that Modernists are losing confidence
in their world view. If forming a positive image of the
future is up to them, we could be in trouble. If it is up
to the Cultural Creatives, something will be invented, for
it takes optimism and idealism to be willing to invent an
image of a positive future in dark times.
Another way of looking at the Cultural Creatives is to ask
if they want to be activists in bringing about a new way
of life. Some 40 percent are positive on the activism scale,
compared to 28 percent of Heartlanders and 25 percent of
Modernists. This suggests that a social movement of over
15 million persons could be formed given the right appeal
and means of mobilization.
The political data suggests that this would better be seen
as a non-political movement. There is among the CCs no mutual
recognition, no sense of community, nor solidarity. The
CCs have acted rather like an audience: all facing in the
same direction, rather than toward one another. In focus
groups over the years, I found that many Cultural Creatives
believe that few people share their values. They believe
that they are pretty much alone in the world and have yet
to become conscious of themselves as a subculture. They
have been reading the same things and going through parallel
life experiences, and coming to similar conclusions about
what is most important in life. But their stance has been
rather like an audience – spectators to the planetary
drama who are leaning back in their seats, not fully engaged
in creating, nor in acting in the drama.
Now CCs need to turn and face one another, to recognize
who they are, to lean forward in mutual engagement and excitement.
Having done that, hope and a sense of new possibility will
arise, and they can be energized to take up the torch and
build community, not only as a community of values and belief,
but as a large and potentially powerful movement that comes
at the most opportune historical moment.
The potential for an Integral Culture is very real. The
requisite population base (of Cultural Creatives) is in
place; global communications and transportation systems
are in place and developing rapidly; advances in the "new
sciences" of quantum physics, holistic biology, and complexity
theory are already dismantling the old Modernist paradigm;
in addition, a host of new developments in humanistic and
transpersonal psychology, eco-sciences, and feminism, as
well as a burgeoning psycho-spiritual consciousness revolution,
are all contributing to a Transmodern culture and a new
kind of world. The transformation is happening right in
front of our eyes, right now in the last decade of the 20th
century. In short, all the ingredients required to make
a truly Integral Culture are already with us.
This study is based on a survey mailed to a representative
national sample of the US population by National Family
Opinion in late 1994, using their panel of people who had
agreed to be available. Roughly 1,500 respondents were sampled.
Another 600 questionnaires were sent to a pre-screened national
sample of Cultural Creatives.
