Culture matters enormously in shaping the outcome of development and rule of law-building programs. The challenge is appreciating not only the strength of deeply rooted cultural practices but also the empowering possibilities for change. Professor Lan Cao tackles these issues forthrightly, emphasizing that the potential for progressive change exists in dynamic ways in different cultures and should be nurtured conscientiously in partnership with domestic reformers, particularly when equality and human dignity are at stake. Advancing a robust notion of development, Cao argues that cultural norms that “marginalize the poor or subordinate women”—contrary to “universal values” of “human freedom and human capability”—should be changed (pp. 68, 453). This can and should be done respectfully together with local reformers who know their culture best and are working for progressive change from within. Such change does not constitute cultural disrespect but instead recognizes that culture is always hybrid, evolving, and contested, with many different strands and possibilities for reform.

Cao's comprehensive and thoughtful book—enriched with numerous concrete examples and case studies from many different countries and regions—will invigorate scholarly debate on the role of culture in law and development. Her analysis will also inform on-the-ground practitioners, who may directly encounter tensions between universal human rights and local traditions in their work. Cao challenges those who think that culture is too delicate or complicated to engage. To be sure, addressing longstanding cultural norms and practices head on can be difficult and uncomfortable, evoking charges of cultural imperialism from opponents or defenses of cultural relativism. But Cao maps out a path to navigate through these challenging waters, highlighting ways to work with progressive local actors who seek to push their culture in constructive and empowering directions from within. That is the kind of project she urges her readers to be more fully and self-consciously involved in. In fact, the very failure to engage culture and to work to change norms that undercut human freedom and dignity, she argues, explains many of the disappointing results of past waves of law and development. More common technocratic, institution-centric approaches to law and development are unlikely to have an enduring or empowering impact without addressing culture and norm change when appropriate.

Cao sets forth her argument powerfully, drawing comprehensively on scholarship in a wide range of disciplines, including law and development, public and private international law, economics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and international relations. She is unusual in her ability to bring together themes and marshal insights from such a diverse array of fields, which is all the more valuable in a world of increasing specialization. Cao is the Betty Hutton Williams Professor of International Economic Law at Chapman University in California. She is also an accomplished novelist. First arriving in the United States from Vietnam as a young girl in 1975 at the end of the war, Cao has written two highly acclaimed novels, Monkey Bridge (1997) and The Lotus and the Storm (2014), each exploring complex themes of war, memory, family, and the challenges of immigration to a new land. Cao is a beautiful writer and storyteller, and these talents are clearly at work in Culture in Law and Development. Although this scholarly book is over five hundred pages long, it is full of stories and nuggets of practical wisdom and is enjoyable to read, with theoretical analysis and concrete illustrations woven together with the skill of a novelist.

Her core argument—that “cultural norms that impede” the freedom and “human capabilities of the poor, women, and other marginal groups should be changed”Footnote ¹—is compellingly and thoughtfully advanced. Drawing on the work of economist Amartya Sen, philosopher Martha Nussbaum, and anthropologist Arjun Appadurai,Footnote ² Cao likewise supports a robust conception of development that advances human freedom and capability, which undergirds her argument for changing cultural norms that “marginalize the poor and the powerless” and “diminish their capacity and freedom, including their capacity to aspire” (p. 120). In advancing this position, Cao begins with a comprehensive introduction that lays out the book's key themes and then delves into the history of law and development. Chapter 1 examines two main “waves” of law and development efforts, the first beginning in the 1960s and the second after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Each of these waves, she argues, paid insufficient attention to issues of culture and norm change that are essential to development that truly advances human freedom and human dignity.

Why has law and development focused too narrowly on law and not enough on culture? Cao proffers part of the explanation in Chapter 2, in which she critiques blind spots and failures to fully engage culture in the disciplines of public international law, private international law, and even international human rights. These limitations, she argues in Chapter 3, have affected work in law and development by focusing attention far more on state actors and markets than on cultural norms and patterns that profoundly affect the lives of the poor and other marginalized groups. The impact of these blind spots has particularly affected women, whose opportunities, equality, and freedom are often deeply constrained by discriminatory and subordinating cultural practices, as Cao elaborates. Although she recognizes that some greater willingness to address culture and issues of norm change is developing in these fields, particularly with the growing advocacy role of non-governmental organizations, Cao views customary international law's evolution as more expressly embracing norm change in ways relevant to the sort of culture change she advocates in law and development work (ch. 4).

Having laid this foundation, Cao next presents a detailed analysis of historical examples where culture has been changed (ch. 5). These examples span many different cultures and time periods. Some focus on internally driven change—such as in Turkey under Atatürk, Japan during the Meiji period, eradication of foot binding in China, educational reforms in South Korea—while others focus on externally driven culture change, most notably demilitarization and democratization in post-World War II Germany and Japan. Cao also looks at cultural reforms led by nongovernmental organizations—for example by microfinance organizations such as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh that primarily lends to women, empowering them and also encouraging “changing cultural habits” like rejecting the practice of child marriage (p. 57). She also examines NGO-led community work in response to female genital mutilation in Senegal and Egypt, and work to change norms governing the use of force by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Cao next discusses limitations of conventional rule of law programs that fail to address cultural constraints, for instance on the property rights of women, and then turns to recent experiences in post-conflict “law and development” including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In many of her examples of culture change, Cao highlights the important role of media, film, music, and education. She underscores the importance of empowering and involving local communities in shaping reforms. She also acknowledges limitations and cautionary aspects in many of the examples she discusses. Cao notes that she is not aiming to offer the degree of detail and nuance that a country expert might provide, but rather is seeking to identify overarching insights and lessons from a wide range of historical experiences.

Finally, before concluding, Cao offers a forthright normative defense of culture change (ch. 6). She addresses critiques that such efforts are imperialist or paternalistic and recognizes that culture change has sometimes been carried out in problematic ways. Nor should a focus on culture obscure the need to address structural problems and injustices globally. But Cao vigorously defends her argument for culture change in the face of widespread, entrenched practices that subordinate the vulnerable and “the preexisting paternalism that permeates women's lives” (p. 459). Not only does she defend basic universal values of human dignity and freedom, she also stresses the hybridity, porousness, and constantly evolving nature of culture. Cao is not naïve about the difficulties of the change she is advocating; on the contrary, she stresses the challenges, obstacles, and often unintended consequences of efforts to change deeply rooted cultural norms. She also recognizes that many customary practices do not implicate universal values at all. Yet if the poor, women, and marginalized populations are to have meaningful possibilities for freedom, equality, opportunity, and respect for their human dignity, particular cultural practices that stand in the way must be addressed and modified directly, she stresses, drawing on progressive strands and change agents within a culture.

Cao has written an important, thought-provoking book that is also extremely timely. We live in a period of deep social turmoil, in which the cultural foundations undergirding the rule of law seem far more fragile than often appreciated, even in highly developed societies. Cao's emphasis on the fluidity and contestability of culture, and of the need forthrightly to encourage cultural norms that support fundamental human rights and human dignity, speaks directly to current challenges in countries around the world, including our own, as we confront deep-seated patterns of sexual abuse and complicity, recurring assaults on the rule of law, egregious failures to protect the most vulnerable, and many other serious problems.

Fortunately, thanks to the work of Cao and others, culture's fundamental centrality is garnering greater attention in law and development and more broadly. For instance, scholarship on post-conflict reconstruction and rule of law building is addressing the significance of custom and culture, including an increased focus on the role of customary law and traditional mechanisms of dispute resolution.Footnote ³ Understanding how these mechanisms work, their strengths and weaknesses, their perceived legitimacy, and their relationship to state justice mechanisms, is important to working for their improvement.Footnote ⁴ Also crucial is appreciating the fundamental justice issues in particular societies, which may include recurring gender-based violence, economic inequality, and longstanding patterns of discrimination against certain groups, often reinforced by deep-seated cultural practices.

Looking broadly, many significant themes emerge in Cao's insightful book. Let me highlight five of the most notable. First is the vital importance of empowering women through culture change. Probably nowhere is the clash between entrenched cultural practices and universal values more evident than in the area of women's rights. The largest obstacle to women's equality globally is culture, Cao argues, with numerous “cultural norms limit[ing] women's rights and women's agency and negatively affect[ing] women's well-being” around the world (p. 227). Many traditional practices—such as early marriage of young girls, so-called honor killings, systematic denial of education to girls, exclusion of women from property ownership and inheritance, together with numerous other examples—may be deeply rooted in a culture while also profoundly undermining women's equality and freedom. Cao presents considerable data showing how empowering women is crucial to meaningful development: educating women, for example, creates a whole range of ripple effects. Not only do empowered, educated women contribute to a society's economic well-being. They also contribute to the health and education of their children, and to decision making in their communities and countries.

Fundamentally important is the agency of women themselves. As noted above, Cao stresses this point, drawing on the work of Sen on development as freedom, and of Nussbaum and Appadurai on human capability and voice. Practical examples abound, from the empowering effects of a park in Afghanistan designed specifically for women,Footnote ⁵ to the work of Dr. Denis Mukwege and the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Footnote ⁶ Here women who have been the victims of sexual violence not only receive medical care; they also are empowered by learning practical skills, such as soap-making, enabling them to return to their villages as economic actors and change agents, moving “from pain to power.”Footnote ⁷

Cao also illuminates the importance of involving men in the vital work of removing discriminatory barriers and empowering women. Examples she cites include work by an innovative NGO, Breakthrough, founded by a woman from India, who has worked with Bollywood actors to go into villages to perform skits—involving men—highlighting legal reforms aimed at curtailing violence against women and seeking to change contrary ideas about male identity. Another example is successful community-based work in Senegal to change the practice of female genital mutilation. Such efforts have been most successful when mutilation has been framed as a health issue, when communities are empowered to pursue a range of related development goals, and when village elders, including the men, are involved in the conversation and working for change.

A second theme reflected in Cao's work is the need to skillfully navigate the narrative of cultural change in the face of entrenched opposition. There is a lot of dynamism in culture but there is also a lot of entrenched power. Powerful actors and groups that benefit from the status quo can have a lot to lose as a result of cultural change, and vested interests, often patriarchal, will press back in the name of culture. They may invoke ideas of cultural purity and make charges of imperialism; and because of the history of colonialism and imperialism, there is a resonance to this claim. Yet frequently many of the most progressive and innovative actors seeking to reform cultural practices are locals working for change from within their own culture, as Cao highlights throughout her book.

Domestic reformers, moreover, can best articulate narratives in support of change that resonate persuasively locally and enjoy legitimacy. Cao stresses the resources within different religious, cultural, and philosophical traditions that support human dignity and freedom. Indeed, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a touchstone for Cao, was developed by people from many different traditions.Footnote ⁸ Relying on just the Universal Declaration, she contends, goes a long way in advancing human dignity and in working against practices such as honor killing, widow burning, and sexual assault that threaten the lives and freedom of so many around the world. Furthermore, most countries have already signed on to a number of human rights treaties, some of which are very innovative. Appealing to treaty commitments that a country has already made can be a valuable force for change, including through agenda-setting, litigation, and civil society mobilization, as Professor Beth Simmons has documented.Footnote ⁹

Third, Cao's book underscores that culture is a two-way street. External reformers bring their own cultural experiences, expectations, and assumptions, and need to be more self-aware about this. Their own cultural approaches may not be the most resonant to a particular local setting, and they need to be better informed about the cultures in which they are involved. External actors can play a supporting role in nurturing positive change, but should do so with modesty and appreciating that there is culture at both ends.

Crucially important is cultural respect. Cao stresses that many cultural traditions are affirming and positive and deeply important to local communities. For instance, she highlights cultural traditions that nurture “trust, cohesion, and community social capital,” like informal lending circles among immigrant communities and their constructive impacts (pp. 44, 206–11). She does not advocate change across the board, only in situations where particular cultural practices violate universal values and undercut the human capabilities of the poor, women, and other disadvantaged groups. It is in these instances that external actors should be prepared to stand up firmly for human dignity and universal human rights and work in partnership with constructive local actors who do so as well. There may also be innovative ways to affirm important underlying cultural values while finding ways to honor them that do not violate human freedom and dignity.

Fourth, Cao's book recognizes how hard cultural change can be. It is a complex, difficult, ongoing process, often marked by unintended consequences, and there is a need for both realism and humility. Sometimes even small changes have backfired, particularly when external actors have failed to empower or listen to local communities who have their own aspirations for change. Cao discusses an example of a U.S.-funded development project in the 1970s that provided modern stoves in a rural village in Vietnam in order to combat respiratory problems caused by traditional cooking methods. But when the donors returned some months later, they found the stoves outside, unused, and rusting. The smoke that caused the respiratory problems also served an important practical function—it killed termites and other pests in the villagers’ thatched homes. Even small changes such as these can cause disequilibrium that might be avoided by listening closely to the locals and empowering their agency.

Forging effective partnerships between internal reformers and external supporters can be complicated. To be sure, many of the examples in Cao's book are about culture change emanating from within, where the societies themselves recognized the need for change and took various steps internally to promote reforms. But Cao also explores examples of externally driven change, such as during the U.S. occupations in Japan and Germany after World War II where there were far-reaching, deliberate culture change efforts focused on demilitarization and democratization. These efforts occurred at a time of greater self-confidence and optimism about exporting democracy and the rule of law and also involved an enormous commitment of resources. In more recent years, in part because of the mixed experiences of law and development initiatives, and the often disappointing experiences in post-conflict reconstruction, Americans and other Western interveners are much more aware of our own limits, including our own inability in our own cultures to fully live up to the universal values that we profess, such as equality, liberty, and justice for all. Such gaps and disparities should encourage external actors to look within their own societies for needed domestic opportunities for culture change, and to approach such challenges elsewhere with requisite humility and understanding.

Fifth, to end on a hopeful note, Cao's book highlights the value of creative and innovative approaches to culture change drawing on the arts. Media, drama, music, film, and other arts can be used creatively and effectively to address cultural barriers and promote empowering reforms. To give an example, Angelique Kidjo, a talented singer and UNICEF goodwill ambassador from Benin, sings powerfully against child marriage of young girls, working to change this harmful and still very widespread practice.Footnote ¹⁰ Cao's book provides current as well as past examples of such efforts.

In addition to creatively drawing on the arts, law and development work that aims to encourage positive culture change will need a wider scope than more narrowly focused institutional approaches. Some elements of a broader approach include:Footnote ¹¹

• • Getting to the grassroots: by moving beyond cities, state institutions, and political elites to strengthen informal dispute resolution, build citizens' education, access to justice, and community organizing and advocacy programs.

• • Strengthening civil society: including by helping to support independent, ethical, and effective media and non-governmental organizations.

• • Focusing on the next generation: such as through educational programs, cultural exchanges, service opportunities, and other initiatives.

• • Giving people a stake in the law: involving them in planning new institutions and codes, and linking rule of law programs to development and anti-poverty efforts.

• • Including marginalized groups: engaging and empowering women, youth, and minorities.

• • Being creative: using media, pop culture, and culturally resonant narratives and forms of communication to encourage positive reforms.

Such approaches mesh with the conscientious attention to culture change and empowerment that Cao and others advocate.

To sum up, Lan Cao's learned and insightful book has much wisdom to impart on tackling cultural barriers to greater equality, freedom, and human dignity—offering examples and some innovative ideas of potential applicability across diverse cultures. Furthermore, although her book primarily focuses on culture change in developing countries, it is also highly relevant to our current moment here at home as Americans struggle with deep-seated cultural obstacles to women's full equality, continuing patterns of racial discrimination, failure to support vulnerable populations, and many other urgent problems. The #MeToo movement has powerfully exposed longstanding patterns of abuse and cover-up and the crucial need for cultural change in attitudes and practices if women and other vulnerable groups are to enjoy the promise of equality and “liberty and justice for all.”

In looking forward, Cao is right to highlight the tremendous importance of young people in driving culture change: for they have the energy and potential, communication skills, and timeframe to galvanize progressive change in their respective societies. We can also learn from Eleanor Roosevelt, who stressed years ago that character is shaped and the nurturing of human dignity and human rights begins in “small places”Footnote ¹²—in homes, families, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, and local communities—where each of us can be a change agent and send forth a “ripple of hope.”Footnote ¹³