A Novel Approach to Politics

							        13
 Political Culture,
Sex and Agriculture:
  Getting Rucked
   Explains it All
            Political Culture
• Culture is commonly defined in terms of implicit
  and explicit beliefs, practices, and expectations.
• Culture is the set of values that a group shares
• In the ideal world, everyone would be able to
  communicate clearly to one another, and every
  country would agree upon common terms for
  understanding the best solutions to key
  problems.
• In the real world, even when two societies share
  most key aspects of culture, the cultural gap
  between them can still be huge.
         Culture as Explanation
• The problem with using culture to explain political
  phenomena is that culture, political or otherwise, offers a
  universal explanation.
• Everything political can be distilled down to some
  group’s shared beliefs, or shared expectations, or shared
  linguistic referents.
• If culture is enough of an explanation, then how does
  one explain change?
• If culture is enough of an explanation for national
  economic models, then how do we explain when vastly
  different things happen in similar cultures or when similar
  things occur in vastly different cultures?
          Culture as Explanation
• There is no denying that culture is real and it has a significant
  influence on politics.
• Culture clearly matters; it effectively rules out certain
  possibilities and probably favors others.
• However, it is also clearly not deterministic.
• The hard part is figuring out how much culture matters and
  what influences culture.
• Political scientists really do not have an answer for how to
  factor culture into the study of politics.
• Many political scientists ignore culture entirely, and many
  argue that culture is merely a universal term to cover what
  otherwise cannot be explained through other factors.
• Some political theorists argue that culture or aspects of
  culture are the most important factors in politics and that they
  define all but a few details of events.
        Culture as Explanation
• Political culture is an excellent example of a
  seductively simple explanation that seems to
  explain everything, but in truth it is neither simple
  nor universal.
• In most cases, grand explanations can neither
  be simply accepted nor rejected.
• The best approach is informed skepticism, to
  dismiss the universal but to assume that there is
  some value in the theory and to consider the
  hows and whys of the idea to try to find that
  value.
       Applying Political Culture
• Culture has been defined as everything from language to
  a shared appreciation for a particular body shape.
• One constant through those definitions is the idea that
  culture is something shared by a group.
• It is something that helps individuals identify with the
  larger group and provides a context for action by and
  within that group.
• Political culture is the shared social context from which
  people make political choices.
• Political socialization is the process by which the group
  teaches the shared context to the members of society.
• Agents of political socialization are those from whom the
  group learns the political culture, e.g., schools, parents,
  the media, politicians, friends, religious leaders, etc.
         Applying Political Culture
• One can understand New Zealand’s political culture in terms of:
   –   its geographic isolation
   –   its largely agricultural economic base
   –   its British colonial roots, and
   –   the fact that the Maori, the descendants of pre-colonial inhabitants, are a
       large enough group to comprise a successful political party.
• Within countries, there are often subcultures, which are smaller
  cultures within the main political culture.
• Within New Zealand, for example, there are regional political
  cultures, the most obvious being the noticeable differences between
  the North and South islands.
• Applying the idea of culture as shared social contexts, there are
  three different ways it might be related to politics:
   – First, there is culture’s influences on politics, specifically, how New
     Zealand’s isolation shapes its foreign policy.
   – Second there is how culture is used to attain political ends, such as
     establishing and enhancing local and national identities.
   – Last, there is what might be called cultural ownership and cultural
     preservation.
    A Thousand Miles to Nowhere:
     Isolation and Foreign Policy
• New Zealand is a thousand miles to nowhere.
• There are clear cultural effects that seem to follow from
  that geographic isolation.
• The overseas experience, or OE, is encouraged both
  socially and officially.
• Even though it is very expensive to travel, a large
  percentage of Kiwis enhance their education with an
  extended stay somewhere else, often arranged with the
  help of schools.
• Similarly, an overseas trip is regularly accepted as a
  justification for an extended absence from school
• As a result, Kiwis are more likely to travel overseas than
  Americans are.
  A Thousand Miles to Nowhere
• New Zealand’s isolation also has practical effects, e.g.,
  its border-related politics, such as immigration.
• New Zealand has extremely strict immigration laws, and
  with its ocean borders, it is one of the most effective
  countries at enforcing them.
• As a result, New Zealanders tend to not relate to all of
  the U.S. and European political conflicts over
  immigration, particularly illegal immigration.
• New Zealanders broadly accept strict laws that are
  overtly crafted to ensure that people moving to New
  Zealand will make a significant contribution to the local
  economy.
  A Thousand Miles to Nowhere
• The culture of isolation also affects attitudes toward
  material possessions.
• New Zealand is a very small market, far too small to
  support the manufacture of many things, and it costs a
  lot to ship things to New Zealand.
• As a result, things such as cars and building materials
  are expensive.
• The average car in New Zealand is far older than in most
  other places around the world; new cars are rare.
• Building materials are also expensive and a prominent
  industry in New Zealand is the building recyclers who
  buy and resell everything from windows to doorknobs.
  A Thousand Miles to Nowhere
• Of all the cultural aspects one might attribute to geographic
  isolation, the most obvious political is New Zealand’s sense of
  political isolation from the rest of the world.
• Foreign policy shows little evidence of any kind of
  geostrategic motive; there is no sense it is necessary to
  engage directly most of the major issues that arise in world
  politics.
• Moral, not geostrategic reasoning, is the primary benchmark
  for New Zealand foreign policy.
• This was clear in its conditional decision to send troops to
  Afghanistan and Iraq after the U.S. invasions
• New Zealand refused to participate in the invasions, and
  when it sent troops, its leaders made it absolutely clear that
  they were there to protect innocent victims and not to support
  the U.S. occupation.
  A Thousand Miles to Nowhere
• There is a strong sentiment that there is a moral obligation to
  defy the United States when the world’s most powerful nation
  acts geostrategically at the expense of democratic and liberal
  ideals.
• Far from trying to win favor from the United States, those
  supporting action in Afghanistan and Iraq had to overcome the
  fact that it would appear that New Zealand supported the U.S.
  invasion.
• The presumption is that New Zealand will defy any U.S.
  demands unless a solid moral justification can be made.
• Despite longstanding and intense pressure from Washington,
  New Zealand still refuses to allow nuclear-powered ships or any
  ship that might carry nuclear weapons to enter its territorial
  waters.
• The suggestion that one of the parties wanted to capitulate to
  U.S. demands to drop that ban was considered to be an
  underhanded slur against the party’s leader during the latest
  elections.
  A Thousand Miles to Nowhere
• One can argue that New Zealand’s foreign policy is a reflection of a
  culture of isolation, i.e., Kiwis feel distanced from the security
  imperatives that drive the foreign policies of most other nations.
• Despite being a tiny country, New Zealand can defy the United
  States, because Kiwis neither feel threatened by U.S. military might,
  nor do they feel a need to seek its protection from the threats of
  others.
• However, one could also argue that culture has nothing to do with it.
• Perhaps the physical distance that separates New Zealand from the
  rest of the world, in and of itself, explains New Zealand foreign
  policy.
• Not only does a thousand miles of ocean make New Zealand safe
  from any plausible direct threat to its physical security, it also makes
  it pretty much impossible for New Zealand to militarily threaten
  anyone else.
    Culture and Social Distance
• Perhaps the most interesting aspect of a relationship
  between culture and isolation is in the way that culture
  seems to shrink the reality of distance.
• Despite the fact that London is twice as far away as Los
  Angeles, Tokyo, Shanghai, or Singapore, New
  Zealanders are both far more culturally affiliated with
  England and far more politically engaged with London
  than any of those other locations.
• They tend to equate the distance to England with the
  distance to the United States even though they fly
  through the United States to get to England.
• Kiwis think of Japan as being much farther away than
  England, even though it is actually half as far away.
     Culture and Social Distance
• More telling is the New Zealand relationship with the island nations
  of the Pacific.
• New Zealand’s Maori are Polynesians, related to Hawaiians,
  Samoans, Fijians, and other Pacific Island communities.
• This cultural connection shrinks the extremely large distances to
  these small island nations.
• Most of these islands are far closer to Japan, but Kiwis consider
  them neighbors.
• They are not economically insignificant, yet New Zealand puts a
  priority on economic relations with them, including sending them
  almost all of its foreign aid.
• These nations have no military might, yet New Zealand is intensely
  concerned with their security; the Pacific is the one region in the
  world where New Zealand will send troops in response to security
  threats.
• It is hard to find an explanation other than culture for New Zealand’s
  interest in those island nations.
             Culture as Politics
• Culture can also be applied to the pursuit of political and
  social goals.
• During the Cold War, the Russian ballet frequently
  toured the world and served as a means of establishing
  non-hostile interactions
• Sporting events, particularly the Olympics, have been
  intentionally used to bridge the rifts between countries.
                              Culture as Politics
• People use culture to define or justify policy.
• “The Rape of Kuwait” resonated with an American culture
  obsessed with stories of selfless heroes and helped justify the
  first Gulf War.
• The first Bush administration went so far as to orchestrate events
  that reinforced this cultural ideal; the most blatant example being
  the congressional testimony of an “eyewitness” to the atrocities
  of the Iraqi occupation.
• This 15-year old girl was later identified as the daughter of
  Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States, and she had not
  witnessed what she had claimed. [i]
• What she said fit so strongly with what Americans wanted to
  believe that even after she was exposed, the vast majority of
  Americans continued to believe her story.
[i] Arthur E. Rowse. “Teary Testimony to Push America Toward War.” The San Francisco Chronicle. October 18, 1992, 9.
                Culture as Politics
• The use of culture for political or other ends is commonplace.
• One of the most interesting ways that culture can be used politically
  is the way that culture can influence group identity.
• The Olympics are an example of how the modern sporting culture
  was used to build bridges between estranged countries.
• Cultural events, such as sporting events, can be used to enhance
  national or other group identities.
• The USSR invested a great deal in athletics to demonstrate its
  power, and it used the Olympics to enhance a sense of national
  identity among its soviets.
• Schools, cities, and regions around the world use athletic teams as
  a means to generate community identities.
• The display of jerseys, caps, and posters identify members of the
  community to one and all and remind the people who see them of
  that community.
            The Sound of Black
• The role of sports in community building can be clearly
  seen in New Zealand.
• The All Blacks are intimately connected with New
  Zealand’s national identity.
• They find it easier to recognize the All Black’s flag than
  they do their national flag.
• The passion for the All Blacks is so all-encompassing
  that it is hard to find a Kiwi-born boy who doesn’t dream
  of wearing the coveted black jersey.
• The All Black’s Haka is the even more interesting
  example of culture being used to create a shared
  identity.
           The Sound of Black
• The Ka Mmate Haka is a part of a traditional culture that
  is used to create a larger nationally-shared culture.
• A Haka is a Maori call to battle and it has been a part of
  the All Black’s history since the beginning, some 100
  years.
• The Haka creates an unusually strong team unity and
  intimidates opponents, but it also has a strong social
  impact.
• This piece of Maori culture and heritage has become
  accepted as New Zealand culture.
• While there are a mélange of other forces at play, the
  Haka appears to be a significant part of the growing
  respect and acceptance of Maori culture as a significant,
  if not defining, facet of New Zealand’s culture.
         The Sound of Black
• While there are still significant political,
  economic and social conflicts, the average Kiwi
  knows and understands native culture to a
  greater degree that exceeds all but the most
  informed Americans, Canadians, or Australians.
• Maori language is taught in grade schools,
  including grade schools with few Maori students.
• There is also a great deal of respect that
  accompanies that knowledge.
• Many, if not most, of New Zealand’s English
  place names and geographic references have
  been replaced by the original Maori names.
          The Sound of Black
• Does the All Blacks’ Haka explain New
  Zealand’s better-than-average state of relations?
• The Haka might have nothing to do with it.
• It could all be a practical reflection of a liberal
  political system and the fact that Maori make up
  enough of New Zealand’s population to have
  some political and economic clout.
• It could be that in the treaty of Waitangi, the
  Maori managed to retain enough assets to make
  them, their culture, and their interests a
  significant factor in New Zealand’s future.
            Cultural Ownership
• Despite the role the Haka seems to play as a part of
  New Zealand national identity, it is not in the public
  domain; its “ownership” is legally protected.
• Culture has value.
• In addition to the innate value of culture, the fact that
  culture can be used to accomplish things indicates that it
  has instrumental value.
• This connects directly to the issue of cultural ownership.
• When something has instrumental value, when it can be
  intentionally used as a means of accomplishing
  something, it is likely, if not inevitable, that someone will
  attempt to possess to control its application to the pursuit
  of economic, political, or other ends.
            Cultural Ownership
• This aspect of the relationship between politics and
  culture is difficult to navigate.
• The very idea that something that is part of a group’s
  shared identity can also be owned is antithetical to the
  foundations of many cultures.
• However, those that disagree with the concept of cultural
  ownership must contend with the reality of the global
  reach of a Western economy that embraces and legally
  entrenches the ownership of almost everything.
• At the very least, ownership of culture must be
  established in the legal system in order to prevent
  someone else from grabbing it.
• This leads to the problem of having to redefine culture
  into things, e.g., artifacts, patents, trademarks.
           Cultural Ownership
• Preventing the exploitation of traditional culture
  through the Western legal system also
  illuminates the system’s difficulty with handling
  aspects of culture that do not fit well in its legal
  mechanisms.
• Consider the Ta Moko, the traditional Maori
  tattoo.
• Despite its distinctive design, it is impossible to
  define in any way that would stand up as a
  trademark or any other form of copyrighted,
  patented, or trademarked object.
    Back to the “What is Culture”
              Question
• When it comes to the politics of cultural
  ownership, there are two interrelated questions:
  – How do you define culture?
  – How do you protect culture?
• Do the names or chants associated with some
  U.S. sports teams cross the line and become the
  exploitation of a group’s culture?
• Is it a matter of who makes the money?
• Is it simply a matter of being able to clearly
  identify the stake-holding group of a specific,
  definable item from whom to ask permission?
      Back to the “What is Culture”
                Question
• When it comes to political efforts to address culture,
  such as the efforts to preserve indigenous cultures
  around the world, language always seems to be first.
• Quite a bit of time and effort is put into recording
  languages and teaching them to kids in order to keep
  them alive as spoken languages.
• How does that concrete acknowledgement of language
  as the central core of culture fit with cultural ownership?
• Can a group copyright a language?
• Much of the debate about culture boils down to political
  questions, political debates, and political attempts at
  resolution.
• Politics truly does seem to permeate everything.