Jeffrey C. Goldfarb 
Reinventing Political Culture 
The Power of Culture versus the Culture of Power

The way people think and act politically is not set in stone.
People can and do change the fundamental cultural contours of their
political situation. Their political culture does not only restrict
imagination and action – it is also a resource for political
creativity and invention. In Reinventing Political Culture, this
resource is uncovered and explored.

Analyzed as a tension between the power of culture and the
culture of power, the concept of political culture is reinvented
and applied to understanding the practice of people transforming
their own political culture in very different circumstances. Three
instances of such reinvention are closely examined: one historic,
during the twilight of the Soviet empire; one actively in process
and actively opposed, ‘the Obama revolution’; and one an
apparent distant dream, the power of culture and the culture of
power that would avoid ‘the clash of

civilizations’ in the Middle East.

In accessible and engaging prose, Goldfarb clearly and
forcefully presents students and scholars of sociology, comparative
politics, and cultural studies with an original position on
political culture, showing how the political cultures of our times
pose not only grave dangers, but also opportunities for creative
alternatives.

Table of Content

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Reinventing the Concept
Chapter 3 Ideology Ends Again?
Chapter 4 Reinventing American Political Culture: The Obama ‘Revolution’
Chapter 5 Reinventing American Political Culture: The Counter-Revolution
Chapter 6 Spaces of Possibility in the Middle East: Seeking Reinvention in Everyday Practice
Chapter 7 The Power of Culture versus the Culture of Power
Chapter 8 From Monologue to Dialogue: Democratic Culture and the Intellectuals

About the author

JEFFREY C. GOLDFARB is Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology at the New School for Social Research, New York.