The Rise of the Cultural
Creatives
A NEW PHENOMENON is emerging in American culture, according to the
results of a recent social research survey. We are at a watershed
in history, when the country is shifting away from the modern technocratic
society toward what sociologist Paul H. Ray calls "Integral Culture,"
concerned with spiritual transformation, ecological sustainability,
and the worth of the feminine.
For readers who espouse these values, Ray's findings are likely to
be very comforting. The standard bearers of Integral Culture, who
Ray calls "Cultural Creatives," now number 44 million. That's one
quarter of the United States population. At this moment in history,
he say, "The potential for launching a cultural revitalization movement
is dazzling." Still, Ray warns, there is no guarantee the current
momentum will continue into the next century, or that Integral Culture
will become the dominant force. It is largely up to those who identify
themselves as Cultural Creatives to create the new story. What follows
are highlights of Ray's findings, from The Integral Culture Survey:
A Study of the Emergence of Transformational Values in America.
America is experiencing a renaissance of values, the author argues.
He calls it Integral Culture, composed of the spirituality and ecologically
aware. Is this the future? And are you a standard bearer? Are you
a Cultural Creative?
Here are the values, commitments, and beliefs of the Cultural Creatives:
- Need to rebuild neighborhoods and communities/92%
- Concerns about violence and abuse of women and
children/87%
- Xenophilism: Love of travel to foreign places,
of foreigners, and the exotic/85%
- Nature as sacred: Redwood groves, planetary
stewardship, Gaia/85%
- Ecological sustainability: Concern for global
environment, species extinction, and overpopulation; and willingness
to pay to fix it/83%
- Voluntary simplicity: People should have simpler
lifestyles, fewer possessions/79%
- Distrust of big business: Business has too much
power/wealth, is irresponsible, is too profit oriented/76%
- Concern for relationships: Creating/maintaining
them, all kinds: friends, family/76%
- Feminism: Equal pay for women, women should
be managers/leaders, women should not have to return to traditional
roles/69%
- Altruism: Helping others, volunteering, wanting
to create a better society, caring relationships, making a contribution
to society/58%
- Religious mysteries: Belief in paranormal, reincarnation,
afterlife, God as immanent, importance of divine love, meditation/53%
- Self-actualization: Self-discovery, creativity,
psychological growth, personal uniqueness/52%
- Alternative health care: Use of alternative
health care in past year/52%
- Values not held by a majority of CCs, but by
more than most other Americans/% Agreeing:
- Spiritual psychology: Meditation, belong to
spiritual group, developing self-awareness/40%
- Activism: Wanting to be involved in creating
a better America, volunteering/40%
- Optimism about the country and the future/35%
- Importance of creativity in life, wanting more
time for creative pursuits/33%
- Like all groups, CCs also define themselves
by the values they reject/% Rejecting
- Hedonism: High priority on getting out and having
a good time, dressing stylishly/90%
- Survivor orientation: Just getting by, hanging
on day to day/81%
- Anti-sustainability, and pro-big business positions
of the far right/79%
- Winner values: Achievement and job success,
making a lot of money/70%
- Fear of job loss/62%
- Materialism: Greed, doing something for money
alone, wanting to own more property/48%
- Religious right: Fundamentalism, religious conservatism,
intolerance, anti-abortion/46%
- Financial problems and getting out of debt/45%
- Cynicism: Anti-idealism, politically alienated,
refusal to believe in caring/40%
VALUES OF THE CULTURAL CREATIVES The distinctive values, commitments,
and beliefs of the Cultural Creatives - the most conspicuous representatives
of the emerging Integral Culture - may be summarized as follows:
ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY, BEYOND ENVIRONMENTALISM: Any aspect of
ecology and sustainability you can name, Cultural Creatives are emphatically
for it - and we are leading the way. They demonstrate awareness of
a large range of issues, and their values include wanting to rebuild
neighborhoods and communities, achieving ecological sustainability,
supporting limits to growth, seeing nature as sacred, wanting voluntary
simplicity, and being willing to pay for cleaning up the environment
and stopping global warming.
GLOBALISM: Among the top values of Cultural Creatives are xenophilism
(love of foreigners, the exotic, and travel to foreign places), and
ecological sustainability, which includes concern for planetary stewardship
and global ecology, and concern for population problems.
FEMINISM, WOMEN'S ISSUES, RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY: The fact that women
make up 60 percent of the Cultural Creatives is a key to understanding
this subculture. Much of the focus on women's issues in politics comes
from them, including concerns about violence and abuse of women and
children, the desire to rebuild neighborhoods and communities, the
desire to create caring relationships, and concerns about family.
ALTRUISM, SELF-ACTUALIZATION, ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CARE, SPIRITUALITY,
AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY: Cultural Creatives hold a complex of highly
correlated beliefs and values centered on the inner life. This represents
a new sense of the sacred that sees a unity between personal growth
psychology, the spiritual, and service to others. It also includes
a stronger trend toward holistic health and alternative health care.
WELL-DEVELOPED SOCIAL CONSCIENCE AND SOCIAL OPTIMISM: Contrary to
what some social critics have argues, an emphasis on the personal
does not exclude a social conscience or political concern. Cultural
Creatives are as engaged in the world as they are in personal and
spiritual issues. Rebuilding and healing society are related to healing
oneself, physically and spiritually. With that goes a guarded social
optimism.
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