Newsletter 154 — September 10, 2023
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
- Constructive Communication
Danya Rumore: To disagree better, we need to increase our conflict competence — In response to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's "Disagree Better" Initiative, a quick and readable summary of what "disagree better" means in practice. - De-Escalation Strategies
Deep Healing and Emotional Expression: Political Forgiveness as a Unique Peacebuilding Process — For a time when the focus is on good-vs-evil politics, social justice, and holding people accountable for past misdeeds, a look at political forgiveness and its role in building a lasting peace. - Climate Change
The Coming Revolution in Climate Research — For those who recognize the importance of "trusting the science" with respect to climate issues, welcome news that the science is about to get much better (and more reassuring).
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Understanding The Issues That Divide Us
Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says — From Rachel Kleinfeld and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an extensive, must-read analysis of the origins of the United States' ongoing political difficulties. - Social Complexity
Constellation Model of Governance — A complexity-inspired framework designed to ‘hold’ collaborations within dynamic systems by balancing chaos and order, energy and structure. - De-Escalation Strategies
Americans think the “other side” is the problem when it’s really the solution — We have the power – and with that power, the responsibility – to open our eyes and look across the aisle and see not an enemy but a potential partner for change. - Effective Problem-Solving
Summer 2023: CBI in Action — Short summaries of the many projects the Consensus Building Institute is currently working on, showing that consensus can be built in very difficult situations. - De-Escalation Strategies
Political Forgiveness 101 — With all the division and “us versus them” mentality, to heal these divisions and transform conflict we need to change our mindsets. This is where political forgiveness can come into play. - Saving Democracy
Democratic Engagement after Two Summits for Democracy — A report summarizing lessons from the Year of Action and Second Summit, and presenting opportunities for shaping an inclusive and effective Third Summit for Democracy. - De-Escalation Strategies
The Building Civic Bridges Act — A Congressional Act introduced by a bipartisan coalition to establish a pilot program within AmeriCorps, focused on building relationships across lines of difference, led by a new "Office of Civic Bridgebuilding."
Beyond Intractability in Context
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better.
- Developing a Unifying Vision
MLK and the Content of Character — On the anniversary of Martin Luther King's 1963 March on Washington, thoughtful reflections on the meaning of his "I Have a Dream" speech in the contemporary context. - Saving Democracy
A crisis in U.S. presidential legitimacy is looming — An exploration of the likely possibility that the U.S. 2024 election might not produce a result that the losers view is fair and legitimate. - Saving Democracy
How American Democracy Fell So Far Behind — For United States, a country that likes to think of its democracy as exemplary, a look at countries that have found ways to fashion better democracies. - Class Inequity
Chuck Your Privilege — A call for students at elite institutions of higher education who are concerned about unfair privilege and class inequities to be honest with themselves about the many privileges they enjoy. - Social Complexity
Republicans in Wyoming See Clearly What’s Happening — A story about Wyoming's reaction to the nationalization of politics and political reporting and the way in which this impacts their ability to sensibly deal with local issues. - Freedom of Speech
Here's the Long List of Topics Republicans Want Banned From the Classroom — Amid free speech concerns about Republican efforts to ban the teaching of certain topics, a reasonably impartial look at what, exactly, they are trying to ban. - Race / Anti-Racism
D.E.I. Statements Stir Debate on College Campuses — A look at the increasingly frequent practice of requiring job applicants in higher education to submit DEI statements. (How does this differ from requiring a progressive loyalty oath?) - Social Complexity
Innovation and Its Discontents — A review and summary of an important new book examining the history of conflicts arising from technological innovation. - Authoritarianism
Young People in China Can’t Find Work, and Xi Jinping Has Only One Response — A profile of the crisis arising from China's inability to put its young, educated workforce to work (and its authoritarian response). - Inflammatory Media
Why Activists Keep Telling You the World is Ending — Reflections on our tendency to view today's big challenges in apocalyptic and existential terms (and the role that fear mongering activists play in all of this). - Inflammatory Media
Whistling in the Dark — A provocative essay exploring the origins, impacts, and idiosyncrasies of "dog whistle" politics. - Social Complexity
Marine Traffic — A stunning online visualization tool that makes visible the vast network of global trade upon which we all depend. - Class Inequity
The Workings of the Party-State — An attempt to map out the ways in which today's "power elite" exerts its influence over the larger society. - Gender / LBGTQ+
The “Transformative” Invention of Title IX Sex Tribunals — Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, an account of the messy origins of Title IX enforcement policies -- origins that differ substantially from our image of the way democracy is supposed to work.
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