Cultural Creatives and Greens

Paul H. Ray, Ph.D
Paul H. Ray, Ph.D
Richard Brendan interviews Paul H. Ray, Ph.D in a recent episode of the Richard Brendan Show about an emerging segment of the population known as Cultural Creatives. Paul and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson (his wife) have tracked the growing demographic for several decades and in this interview he talks about the relationship of Greens to Cultural Creatives.

The concern for future generations is one of the core values among cultural creatives who, as the name suggests, are interested in creating cultural and social change.

There are less and less people identifying with traditional (rural or country) culture. Many began shifting to a modern cultural perspective following the industrial revolution and many more, since the 1960s, have shifted to a third way of looking at the world -- the Cultural Creatives.

Ray and Anderson's book explores what cultural creatives are like, and it turns out sustainability, environmental responsibility, and social activism are high on their list of interests. They tend to be writers, artists, musicians, psychotherapists, feminists, alternative health care providers and other professionals.

CC = Cultural Creatives
Of the roughly 30 to 40 percent of the developed world who fall into this category, the group is further devided into the "core" group and the "green" group, as indicated by Ray and Anderson's most recent data (2008). See pie chart to the right.

Interestingly core CCs acknowledge the importance of an inner life and they want a society where their deepest values and spiritual priorities can be supported. Green CCs are less interested in their inner lives and more interested in taking action to improve the world around them. Both sub-groups share a conviction that they are members of a global community.

Ray says the Occupy Movement reflects the work of this group as do related movements. Contrary to what is heard in the media the core of these movements are engaged in other movements. In short, they are interested in a wide variety of topics that will provide an outlet for creative thinking towards a new and better way of organizing society.


More:
The Movie on Youtube: The Cultural Creatives
Coming out...as a Cultural Creative -- A blog post by Adam Shames
Wikipedia Article on the Cultural Creatives
http://culturalcreatives.org/


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