How to maintain meaningful relationships during the holidays

A record 80% of Americans believe the U.S. is sharply divided on “core values.” Before the election, a similar percentage of Americans said they feared violence and threats to democracy. Almost half the country believes that people on the other side of the political divide are “thoroughly evil.”

Some say the caustic rhetoric from political leaders and social media influencers is partly to blame for the country’s toxic polarization. Others point to social media platforms that increase misinformation and polarization.

However, there is reason for hope.

I say this as an anthropologist of peace and conflict. In 2016, after working abroad, I began researching the threat of violence in the United States. In 2021, I published a related book called It Can Happen Here.

Now I’m researching polarization in the US – and ways to counteract it. For my research, I attended large Make America Great Again events. I also attended small workshops run by nonprofits like Urban Rural Action, which are dedicated to building social cohesion and bridging divides in America. Some refer to the growing number of these organizations as a “bridging movement.”

Sign up for the Fulcrum newsletter

Their work is not easy, but they have shown that it is possible to connect with and listen to others who hold different political views.

Here are three strategies these organizations are using — and people can try applying them in their own daily lives — to reduce political polarization:

1. Listen first

Pearce Godwin, a former Republican consultant from North Carolina, was one of the first “bridgers.”

In 2013, Godwin did Christian humanitarian work in Africa. Angered by the viciousness of U.S. politics, Godwin, who had worked on Capitol Hill, wrote an op-ed titled “It’s Time to Listen” while on an overnight bus ride through Uganda.

Several US newspapers published his column in which he called for the starting point of most bridging work: people should listen first to understand.

Later that year, Godwin founded a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, the Listen First Project, to spread this message through activities such as the “Listen First, Vote Second” public relations and media campaign in 2014.

After Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Godwin decided to expand Listen First’s work. He founded the #ListenFirst Coalition with three other similar organizations: The Village Square, Living Room Conversations and National Institute for Civil Discourse.

Today, this coalition includes over 500 organizations whose work ranges from one-off dialogue skills workshops to longer-term projects that seek to strengthen social cohesion in the United States

2. Be curious, not dogmatic

Braver Angels has been around since 2016 and is another large nonprofit organization that is part of the #ListenFirst Coalition.

On Election Day, November 5, 2024, the Braver Angels organized hundreds of pairs of Trump and Kamala Harris supporters to stand at polling stations and demonstrate that dialogue across the political divide is possible. Some held signs that read, “Vote Red, Vote Blue, we are Americans through and through.”

Over the past year, I have observed Braver Angels workshops on media bias, public education, immigration, and the 2024 election.

Your fishbowl exercise stands out.

Designed by Bill Doherty, a couples therapist and co-founder of Braver Angels, the fishbowl depicts a group of Republicans and Democrats talking.

People in the group take turns speaking on a particular political issue, while the others – along with a larger group of observers – listen to what they say without speaking. After each group member takes a look into this “fishbowl,” they discuss what they learned from listening to the other group. Many mention their “surprise” when agreement is reached on certain issues and the considered rationale behind positions “on the other side” that they had previously rejected.

The exercise illustrates an important starting point in bridge work: Be curious rather than trying to prove you’re right. Learn how someone on the other side of an issue understands and perceives something.

3. Burst your bubble

Another important strategy for overcoming the divide is helping people get out of their bubble. The idea is that people can objectively step back from and examine their assumptions and then seek to explore alternative views outside of their social media, news information and community silos.

A partner in the #ListenFirst coalition, AllSides, is trying to help people do this through a digital platform that shows how left, right and center media organizations cover the same news of the day. There is also an online tool, Rate Your Bias, that helps users become aware of their own assumptions.

People can use these tools to compare different viewpoints on issues like federal taxes and civil liberties—and how their own viewpoints fit together. You can also search for individual media outlets to see whether the majority of other users rated those organizations as liberal, conservative, or centrist.

When people recognize their own biases – which can become apparent, for example, when they watch the media they like – it can help them become more curious and open-minded. It also helps them get out of the information silos that divide people.

The bridge movement is not without its challenges. People who lean red are sometimes suspicious of these initiatives because they educate people about elections and democracy and can be perceived as leaning liberal.

Group diversity is also a challenge. From my observations, Braver Angels participants tend to be older, white, and educated.

And other groups, like #ListenFirst coalition partner Urban Rural Action, must spend significant time and effort integrating a diverse range of people into their programs.

But given the stark political divisions in America, I think there is a clear need and desire for the depolarization work that these groups are doing.

The vast majority of people in the United States are concerned about the current state of polarization in the country. These bridging groups provide a path forward and offer strategies to help Americans build bridges across the country’s deepening political divide.

Hinton is a distinguished professor of anthropology and director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University – Newark.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.