Peter Joseph is an American independent filmmaker and activist. He is best known for the
''Zeitgeist'' film series, which he wrote, directed, narrated, scored, and produced. He is also the founder of the related
Zeitgeist Movement.
Other work by Joseph includes the 2017 book ''The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression''.
Career
Joseph was born in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...
in 1979 and attended the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
and
The New School
The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
.
In 2009, he founded The Zeitgeist Movement, a self-described "sustainability advocacy organization". It was originally started as the "activist arm" of an organization called
The Venus Project
The Venus Project is a 501(c) nonprofit organization founded by architect and social engineer Jacque Fresco. Fresco, along with his partner Roxanne Meadows, founded this project with a socioeconomic model to develop a resource-based economy for ...
, launched by
Jacque Fresco
Jacque Fresco (March 13, 1916 – May 18, 2017) was an American futurist and self-described social engineer. Self-taught, he worked in a variety of positions related to industrial design.
Fresco wrote and lectured his views on susta ...
in 1994. In 2011, the two organizations separated. Joseph's work with the movement and the Zeitgeist film trilogy has been the subject of national media attention, including articles in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The Palm Beach Post
''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast.
On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and '' The Palm Beach Daily News' ...
'', ''VC Reporter'', and ''
TheMarker''.
Since 2011, Joseph has supported the
Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...
.
In 2012, he created the satirical miniseries ''Culture in Decline'', which challenges various contemporary cultural phenomena.
In March 2017,
BenBella Books
BenBella Books is an independent publishing house based in Dallas, Texas. BenBella was founded by Glenn Yeffeth in 2001. It specializes in Non-fiction novel, nonfiction books on popular culture, business, health, and nutrition, along with books ...
published ''The New Human Rights Movement'', authored by Joseph.
Abby Martin discussed his views in the book and generally in an interview on
Telesur
Telesur (stylized as teleSUR) is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite news television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, and sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
First proposed in 2005 and subsidized ...
.
Filmography
Film
* ''Zeitgeist: The Movie'' (2007)
* ''Zeitgeist: Addendum'' (2008)
* ''Zeitgeist: Moving Forward'' (2011)
* ''InterReflections'' (2020)
* ''Zeitgeist: Requiem'' (2024)
Television
* ''Culture in Decline'' (2012)
Music videos
* "
God Is Dead?" –
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
(2013)
Publications
*
* ''The New Human Rights Movement'' (2017)
See also
*
Acharya S
*
Post-scarcity economy
Post-scarcity is a theoretical economic situation in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely.
Post-scarcity does not mean that scarcity ha ...
*
Technocracy
Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...
References
External links
*
Who Is Peter Joseph? 2009 documentary by Charles Robinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Peter
1979 births
American conspiracy theorists
American documentary film directors
American political writers
American founders
Anti-consumerists
Living people
American sustainability advocates
Writers about activism and social change