Cultural Stability

Abstract Culture’s tendency to resist change, or to change only incrementally, is often described as one of its defining features. This resilience can be beneficial if cultural ensembles have positive sustainability outcomes, but problematic where they do not. This chapter draws from research that has used the cultures framework to examine cultural stasis and the mechanisms by which cultural ensembles endure. It starts with examples of culture’s role in sustainability-related outcomes. Consistent cultural patterns relating to particular outcomes (e.g. household energy efficiency, mobility choices) can be identified across populations. The chapter then describes the various processes by which cultural arrangements resist change. These include dynamic alignments within cultural ensembles, cultural actors’ lack of agency and external influences on cultural arrangements. The examples show how the framework offers a universal, scale-free model for the analysis of culture in the context of sustainability.