By Nancy Roof
Keywords: globalization, culture, peace, Integral, Kosmos, art, worldviews, worldcentric, global civilization, mindshift, John O’Donohue, developmental levels, developmental lines, developmental stages, developmental psychology, World Culture Open, United Nations
This two-part essay introduces an Integral strategy towards addressing the current global imbalance, which lacks the development and acknowledgement of individual and cultural interiority. Cultural clashes result from the lack of worldcentric knowing and indeed, cultural worldviews play a vital role in global affairs. Part one describes the need for emergence within global culture, beyond scientific materialism and rationality, towards an integrative perspective that can transcend single belief systems yet honor diversity throughout the entire spiral of development. Four key points for such a global mindshift and several elements of Integral thinking are provided. Part two details the transformative power of culture as art. Unfortunately, the potential of art is undervalued and ignored in today’s society. True art stretches beyond the constraints of culture, and in its purest form, is an element of global peace that can bring unity and beauty into global consciousness. The blueprint for a global culture resides in the depths of our soul waiting patiently for us to awaken. [Co-Director’s note: This is based upon a talk originally given by the author at a United Nations conference on world culture, in the fall of 2025. This paper refers to the following elements of Integral Theory: developmental levels and developmental lines. The concepts of Spiral Dynamics and 4Q/8L are also referred to. - Barrett]