The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself

289 Pages·2006·1.117 MB·English

by  Lawrence E. Harrison

The Central Liberal Truth:
How Politics Can Change a
Culture and Save It from Itself
LAWRENCE E. HARRISON
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
THE CENTRAL LIBERAL TRUTH
This page intentionally left blank
The Central Liberal Truth
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:2)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:4)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:4)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:15)(cid:16)(cid:4)(cid:12)(cid:4)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:6)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:16)
(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:19)(cid:4)(cid:20)(cid:12)(cid:21)(cid:16)(cid:4)(cid:22)(cid:8)(cid:4)(cid:23)(cid:18)(cid:2)(cid:24)(cid:4)(cid:22)(cid:8)(cid:10)(cid:16)(cid:6)(cid:23)
LAWRENCE E. HARRISON
2006
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that
further Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2006 by Lawrence E. Harrison
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harrison, Lawrence E.
The central liberal truth : how politics can change a culture
and save it from itself / Lawrence E. Harrison.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-530041-3
ISBN-10: 0-19-530041-6
1. Culture. 2. Culture—Political aspects.
3. Social values. I. Title.
HM621.H37 2006
306'.01—dc22
2005026379
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Patsy—Again, and always
This page intentionally left blank
C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Introduction 1
1 The Riddle of Hispaniola 21
2 Disaggregating “Culture” 35
3 Models and Instruments
of Cultural Transmission/Change 57
4 Religions and Progress 87
5 Culture in Action I 120
6 Culture in Action II 142
7 Patterns of Cultural Change 163
8 Success and Failure 184
9 Conclusion: Guidelines
for Progressive Cultural Change 206
Notes 227
Appendix: Biographical Sketches 245
Index 255
This page intentionally left blank
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I OWE AGREAT DEBT OFGRATITUDE to the Fletcher School at Tufts Univer-
sity, and particularly to its dean, Stephen Bosworth, for providing the
Culture Matters Research Project with an ideal home for research, con-
ferences, and writing.
The versatility, energy, and effectiveness of my assistant at Fletcher,
Lupita Ervin, merit special mention. She managed the administrative
and financial aspects of the project and attended to the myriad details of
two major conferences, always efficiently and always with a smile. I also
wish to acknowledge Fran Parisi’s assistance in financial management.
The project was made possible through the generous financial sup-
port of the Smith Richardson Foundation, the John Templeton Foun-
dation, the Donner Foundation, the Sidney Swensrud Foundation, Dr.
John Templeton, and Max Thelen.
The following people read the manuscript and provided valuable
comments: Giacomo Bernardi, James Fox, Mariano Grondona, Robert
Hefner, Jerome Kagan, Stephen Lewis, and Alex Shakow.
The book has been the beneficiary of the skillful and sure editorial
hands of George Scialabba in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Sara
Safransky at the Oxford University Press. I also want to thank Joellyn
Ausanka for her helpful role in coordinating production of the book.