Obstacles to Cultural Transformation

Abstract

Our research group used the classic and current “cultural change” or cultural transformation literature as a starting point to create a framework for understanding the obstacles that GM would encounter in the process of moving from the “old way” to a more ideal plant culture model.1 Any form of cultural change, from sweeping cultural revolutions to small changes in material culture, always meets some level of resistance. In general, people automatically resist change and favor continuity even when the new way may be more beneficial to them. The resistance can be mild and can be overcome by simply learning about the new way, or it can be vehement and virtually unchangeable, requiring the strongest tools of cultural change to encourage the adoption of the new way.2 Mild forms of cultural change are often called “evolutionary change” because they follow a step-by-step (i.e., small or incremental) progression from the old to the new. More sweeping and abrupt forms of cultural change are sometimes labeled “revolutionary change.” Those changes usually signal a significant break between the old and the new, especially in terms of the ideology or philosophy that is guiding the new way of doing things.3