Multiculturalism—the belief that no culture is better or worse than any other; it is merely different—has come to dominate Western intellectual thought and to serve as a guide to domestic and foreign policy and development aid. But what if multiculturalism itself is flawed? What if some cultures are more prone to progress than others and more successful at creating the cultural capital that encourages democratic governance, social justice for all, and the elimination of poverty? In Jews, Confucians, and Protestants: Cultural Capital and the End of Multiculturalism, Lawrence E. Harrison takes the politically incorrect stand that all cultures are not created equal. Analyzing the performance of 117 countries, grouped by predominant religion, Harrison argues for the superiority of those cultures that emphasize Jewish, Confucian, and Protestant values. A concluding chapter outlines ways in which cultural change may substantially transform societies within a generation.

"Sailing into stiff headwinds, Harrison challenges the belief—foundational to multiculturalism—that all cultures are equally valuable. Some cultures, he argues, simply are better than others at fostering economic growth, democratic governance, and social justice. It is, he asserts, a culture of education, frugality, and intracommunity trust that makes Jews financial titans. Likewise, a culture of learning and personal moderation empowers Confucian entrepreneurs in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. And it is a culture of hard work coupled to personal responsibility that elevates Protestants to top positions in global business. Other cultures—tradition-bound Catholicism, fatalistic Islam, and irrational Voodoo—come in for censure as obstacles to progress. Likewise labeled as barriers to advancement are contemporary cultural patterns among African Americans and Latino immigrants. Clearly separating himself from conservatives, Harrison outlines a progressive agenda based on deliberate cultural engineering. Still, in trying to test this agenda, Harrison’s Cultural Change Institute has encountered considerable resistance. That resistance persists in sharp debates sure to bring readers, both partisans and critics, to this book." - Booklist

"Harrison vigorously defends the proposition that both human capital (e.g., educated workers) and social capital (e.g., capacity to cooperate) require the larger religious worldviews constituting cultural capital. Not all religious cultures are equally deserving of respect if measured by their score on a 25-item typology of "universal progress culture." Using league tables of national achievements regarding transparency/corruption, political and civil freedoms, income distribution, female literacy, and per capita income--reinforced by anecdotes from his own experience in economic development projects in Latin America--Harrison concludes that the three religious cultures of the book's title are markedly superior on all counts in comparison with Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. And, to demonstrate that culture matters and race does not, he uses the same typology to show the high achievements of minority religious/cultural outliers such as Basques (Catholic), Ismailis (Muslim), and Sikhs (Hindu) as well as African Americans descended from pre-Civil War freedmen or from immigrants from Jamaica. The lesson he draws for US educational, social-welfare, and immigration policy is obvious: assimilation into US national culture must supplant multiculturalism in theory and practice. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty" - CHOICE

"Harrison structures his book by creating a foundation for his argument and then examining numerous cultures by way of many different factors. The book travels widely, from the Ten Commandments to the Reformation, from Islam to Mormonism and from the Basques to the Sikhs. Throughout, the author attempts to analyze each culture’s effectiveness by how it addresses human rights and social, economic and political achievement. . . .The result is a comprehensive and controversial book, guaranteed to make readers sit up and take notice, agreeing or disagreeing to the full extent of their varied and individual voices." - Martha's Vineyard Gazette