Recent Beyond Intractability Posts
Including Hyper-Polarization Posts
Posts by BI Section
Lists of recent posts are also available separately for each BI Section:
Hyper-Polarization Discussion Posts | Earlier Constructive Conflict Initiative Blog
Things You Can Do To Help | Conflict Frontiers | Conflict Fundamentals
Beyond Intractability in Context | Colleague Activities
- Metaphors make the world -- A thought-provoking exploration of the role that metaphors play in helping us make sense of the world in which we live. -- Feb 28
- The Plurality Institute -- The Plurality Institute is building an ecosystem to push boundaries to reimagine collaborative frameworks. They serve as a hub for academics, industry researchers, practitioners, and leaders from both civil and governmental sectors -- Feb 26
- Chaos at the End of History -- From a broad historical perspective, a look at the origins of today's ever present hyper-polarization. -- Feb 26
- The Most Important Writing Exercise I’ve Ever Assigned -- A simple and really creative writing assignment (or introspective thought experiment) that helps people see across the deepest of our political divides. -- Feb 24
- Apathy Loses -- If reasonable people disengage from politics, the zealots win. -- An appeal for moderates who can see both sides of today's complex issues to get more evolved in politics. Otherwise, our future will be determined by true believers who see no value in competing views. -- Feb 24
- Lou Kriesberg, Deborah Laufer, and Ashok Panikkar: Hopeful Thoughts About What Could Be, Contrasted with Darker Thoughts About What Is -- One positive, optimistic look at what could happen in Israel/Palestine, and others looking at some of the negative forces that are working against such an integrative outcome. -- Feb 21
- Peter Coleman on The Way Out of Polarization and Intractability -- Polarization is destroying our relationships with friends and family. Peter Coleman has a way to fix that -- and possibly fix our society as well. -- Feb 17
- Talking Race and Democracy with Grande Lum -- The conflict resolution professionals' time has come. We need to step up to the plate! -- Feb 14
- Pluralism, Plurality, and the Generation of Collective Wisdom -- Ideas about how the generation of collective wisdom can enhance the work of the New Pluralists and others interested in escaping the destructive hyper-polarization and stagnation. -- Feb 13
- The Grand Canyon-Sized Chasm Between Elites and Ordinary Americans -- The report on what is likely the United States' biggest and most consequential political divide -– the one that separates elites from the rest of society. -- Feb 11
- Reader Responses on the Israel/Hamas War and Reconciliation and Justice -- You cannot provide facts, logic, or reasoning when it comes to “sacred values.” So what should one do when one group's "sacred value" calls for the total destruction of another group? -- Feb 11
- The For-Profit D.C. Firm Staging America’s ‘Grassroots’ Movements -- An astonishing window into the shady world in which "bad-faith" actors manipulate our politics and inflame (and, sometimes, generate) conflict and animosity. -- Feb 10
- Colleague and Context Posts for the Week of February 11, 2024 -- Articles submitted by readers and our choices for interesting and important reading from within the conflict and peacebuilding field and beyond. -- Feb 10
- Elements of Reconciliation — Part 1: Justice -- Justice has many different meanings. If social justice is to be attained, we need to sit down together an negotiate which of the many meanings of justice we want to pursue--and how. -- Feb 06
- Colleague and Context Posts for the Week of February 4, 2024 -- Links from readers about Israel, Heidi's links from colleagues, and Guy's links from journalists and others in allied fields--all interesting and important reading in our view. -- Feb 04
- Through a distorted lens: How perceptions of the “other side” drive toxic division -- Toxic polarization is a large, complex problem with many factors. But one thing we can all do to reduce it is examine our role in the equation. Making our culture less toxic starts with us. -- Feb 04
- Chicken Littles Are Ruining America -- An in-depth look at the far-reaching implications of a culture that is so focused on apocalyptic threats that it fails to see the many positive aspects of society worth celebrating and defending. -- Feb 03
- How ‘Our Democracy’ Became Undemocratic -- An essay exploring the many ways in which the word "democracy" has been weaponized by a wide array of narrowly focused interest groups -- groups that have little concern for the welfare of the larger society. -- Feb 03
- The Meaning of Gaza’s Tunnels -- An exploration of the causes and far-reaching ramifications of Hamas's unique brand of tunnel warfare. -- Feb 02
- More Comments on Growing Strawberries on Coconut Trees -- More reader comments and Ashok Panikkar's comments on those comments about the role of peacebuilding, force, and other approaches to the world's current most violent conflicts. -- Feb 01
- Essay IX: Mapping the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem: Future of Citizenship -- A series of essays exploring how democracy and citizenship are both evolving and threatened, and how people are thinking about and engaging in politics and community. -- Jan 31
- America’s social ills are not simply due to inequality and despair -- An interesting article questioning some of our most basic assumptions about the challenges facing society and possible remedies -- the kind of outside the box thinking we ought to consider occasionally. -- Jan 31
- Ken Cloke: Free Speech on Campus: What Colleges and Universities Can Do - And Lorelie Kelly on How Universities Can Strengthen our Democrati -- There are no judicial or military solutions to the wars being fought around the world, or on our campuses. Our only choice is to learn to live together by settling, transforming, or transcending our conflicts. -- Jan 30
- Colleague and Context Posts for the Week of January 28, 2023 -- Links from readers and Guy exploring the themes of hyper-polarization, Israel, and related topics from within and beyond the peacebuilding field. -- Jan 28
- What's Wrong with Liberalism: TheoryWhat's Wrong with Liberalism: Theory -- From Francis Fukuyama, an update on his latest thinking regarding liberalism and its discontents on the left and the right. -- Jan 27
