Transforming Political Cultures

Abstract

The discussion of political culture is often left out of both discussions of culture and development and of sustainability. This is unfortunate as politics lies at the basis of policy, including of how politics influences culture. This chapter fills this gap by uncovering the idea of political culture, exploring creative models that have been suggested for transforming politics in the direction of greater social justice and ecological sustainability, and which promotes the growth of ethically, spiritually and psychologically sensitive and caring human beings. It also considers the relationship between religion and culture, the critical role of the imagination in creating alternative futures, the possibility of creating transformative politics without seeking power in the traditional political sense, and discussed emergent ideas such as those of “Earth Democracy”, “Ecological Democracy”, sustainability leadership, new social movements and the possibilities of re-creating sustainable human communities.