Mission
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. The CCI seeks to accomplish this through the production of case studies; the design and implementation of pilot projects; value and attitude surveys; and education and training programs for current and future development practitioners.
History
The Cultural Change Institute is the result of Larry Harrison’s 25-year campaign to raise awareness of the crucial role culture plays in producing economic progress, democratic governance, and social justice. During his career with USAID, Harrison became convinced that culture was an important reason why some groups prospered while others seemed to remain perpetually behind. This thesis was elaborated in his books Underdevelopment is a State of Mind, Who Prospers?, and The Pan-American Dream. In order to leverage the interest the symposium generated, Harrison spearheaded the creation of the Culture Matters Research Project (CMRP), a three-year initiative that assembled essays and original research from more than 65 scholars around the world. The CMRP culminated in the popular book Culture Matters (Basic Books, 2000), edited by Harrison and Harvard University professor Samuel Huntington (of The Clash of Civilizations fame).
Harrison continued to build on the topic by editing a follow-up book entitled The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save it From Itself (Oxford University Press, 2006). In 2007, he inaugurated the Cultural Change Institute at the Fletcher School.