The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Since development became a priority international issue a half century ago, strategic paradigms have come and gone. While some positive outcomes have been realized, none has produced the advertised broad-scale transformations in poor, often authoritarian, often unjust countries. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes. The Cultural Change Institute (CCI) works to promote awareness of the significance of culture and of cultural change in lagging societies through country case studies; studies of the instruments and institutions of cultural transmission (e.g., child-rearing practices, education systems, religions, the media); pilot projects; value and attitude surveys; and conferences.
Mission
The goal of the CCI is to accelerate political, economic, and social development in poor countries and among underachieving groups in the advanced democracies. The CCI will add to the existing body of knowledge of how cultural values and attitudes influence progress as well as provide assistance to governments, development assistance institutions, non-governmental organizations, and universities interested in promoting the values, beliefs, and attitudes associated with progress. For more details, please click here.
About
The Cultural Change Institute culminates 25 years of academic work by Lawrence Harrison preceded by twenty years of experience with the US Agency for International Development. Harrison led the Culture Matters Research Project (CMRP), a three-year (2002-05) initiative at the Fletcher School that brought together scholars, journalists, and politicians from around the world for two conferences.
The CMRP products are:
- Lawrence Harrison, The Central Liberal Truth (CMRP overview: Oxford University Press, 2006)
- Lawrence Harrison and Jerome Kagan, eds., Developing Cultures: Essays on Cultural Change (Routledge, 2006)
- Lawrence Harrison and Peter Berger, eds., Developing Cultures: Case Studies (Routledge, 2006)
The precursor of the CMRP was a symposium that Harrison organized at Harvard University in 1999 that led to the book Culture Matters (Basic Books, 2000), co-edited by Harrison and Samuel Huntington.
For more information on Lawrence Harrison and CMRP, please click here.
Case Studies
The Cultural Change Institute will commission a number of country case studies additional to the 27 such studies that comprise Developing Cultures: Case Studies. For a detailed description of planned projects in 12 countries please click here.
Awareness and Change
CCI will work to promote awareness of the significance of culture and of the importance of cultural change in lagging societies using the CCI website, conferences, and publications. For further information on awareness and change, please click here.
Pilot Projects
CCI will undertake pilot projects that will test the Culture Matters Research Project guidelines and facilitate replication. For more details, please click here.
Contacts
The Cultural Change Institute
The Fletcher School at
Tufts University
160 Packard Ave., Medford, MA 02155
Phone: 617-627-3034
Email: cci@tufts.edu
The CCI has been the beneficiary of major grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the Smith Richardson Foundation. Financial assistance has also been provided by the Donner Foundation and the Sidney Swensrud Foundation.