Dangerously Divided

Dangerously Divided
Author: Zoltan Hajnal
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2020-01-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108487009

Race, more than class or any other factor, determines who wins and who loses in American democracy.

Dangerously Divided

Dangerously Divided
Author: Zoltan L. Hajnal
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2020-01-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108803350

As America has become more racially diverse and economic inequality has increased, American politics has also become more clearly divided by race and less clearly divided by class. In this landmark book, Zoltan L. Hajnal draws on sweeping data to assess the political impact of the two most significant demographic trends of last fifty years. Examining federal and local elections over many decades, as well as policy, Hajnal shows that race more than class or any other demographic factor shapes not only how Americans vote but also who wins and who loses when the votes are counted and policies are enacted. America has become a racial democracy, with non-Whites and especially African Americans regularly on the losing side. A close look at trends over time shows that these divisions are worsening, yet also reveals that electing Democrats to office can make democracy more even and ultimately reduce inequality in well-being.

I Never Thought of It That Way

I Never Thought of It That Way
Author: Mónica Guzmán
Publisher: BenBella Books
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2022-03-08
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1637740328

PORCHLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 2022 NONFICTION BESTSELLER “I can see this book helping estranged parties who are equally invested in bridging a gap—it could be assigned reading for fractured families aspiring to a harmonious Thanksgiving dinner.” —New York Times “Like all skills, these techniques take practice. But anyone who sincerely wants to bridge the gaps in understanding will appreciate this book. Guzmán is emphatic about making an effort to work on difficult conversations.” —Manhattan Book Review We think we have the answers, but we need to be asking a lot more questions. Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted—twice—for Donald Trump. When the country could no longer see straight across the political divide, Mónica set out to find what was blinding us and discovered the most eye-opening tool we’re not using: our own built-in curiosity. Partisanship is up, trust is down, and our social media feeds make us sure we’re right and everyone else is ignorant (or worse). But avoiding one another is hurting our relationships and our society. In this timely, personal guide, Mónica, the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and certainty that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is different from or even opposed to yours. Drawing from cross-partisan conversations she’s had, organized, or witnessed everywhere from the echo chambers on social media to the wheat fields in Oregon to raw, unfiltered fights with her own family on election night, Mónica shows how you can put your natural sense of wonder to work for you immediately, finding the answers you need by talking with people—rather than about them—and asking the questions you want, curiously. In these pages, you’ll learn: How to ask what you really want to know (even if you’re afraid to) How to grow smarter from even the most tense interactions, online or off How to cross boundaries and find common ground—with anyone Whether you’re left, right, center, or not a fan of labels: If you’re ready to fight back against the confusion, heartbreak, and madness of our dangerously divided times—in your own life, at least—Mónica’s got the tools and fresh, surprising insights to prove that seeing where people are coming from isn’t just possible. It’s easier than you think.

Divided Loyalties

Divided Loyalties
Author: Joseph Weber
Publisher: MSU Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1628954078

Why do people join violent extremist movements? What attracts so many to fight for terrorist groups like al-Shabab, al-Qaida, and the Islamic State? Journalism professor Joseph Weber answers these questions by examining the case of the more than fifty Somali Americans, mostly young men from Minnesota, who made their way to Somalia or Syria, attempted to get to those countries, aided people who did, or financially backed terrorist groups there. Often defying parents who had fled to the United States seeking safety and prosperity for their children, many of these youths ended up dead, missing, or imprisoned. But for every person who went on or attempted this journey believing they were rising to the defense of Islam, more rejected the temptations of terrorism. What made the difference? The book takes a close look at one man from Minneapolis, the American-born son of a couple who had fled Somalia, who came dangerously close to answering the ISIS call. Abdirahman Abdirashid Bashir’s cousins and friends had taken up arms for the group and reached out to him to join them. From 2014 to 2016 he and a dozen friends—some still in their teens—schemed to find ways to get to Syria. Some succeeded. In the end, Bashir made a different choice. Not only did he reject ISIS’s call, he decided to work with the FBI to spy on his friends and ultimately to testify against them in court. Drawing on extensive interviews, Weber explains why.

Dangerous Love

Dangerous Love
Author: Chad Ford
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2020-06-23
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1523089784

“Chad Ford reminds us that humanity lies within all of us, and although conflict is everywhere in today's world, we have the tools we need to overcome obstacles and to thrive. This is a fantastic, timely book that I highly recommend." —Steve Kerr, Head Coach, Golden State Warriors Knowing how to transform conflict is critical in both our personal and professional lives. Yet, by and large, we are terrible at it. The reason, says longtime mediator Chad Ford, is fear. When conflict comes, our instincts are to run or fight. To transform conflict, Ford says we need to turn toward the people we are in conflict with, put down our physical and emotional weapons, and really love them with the kind of love that leads us to treat others as fellow human beings, not as objects in our way. We have to open ourselves up with no guarantee that anyone on the other side will do the same. While this can feel even more dangerous than conflict itself, it allows us to see the humanity of others so clearly that their needs and desires matter to us as much as our own. Ford shows dangerous love in action through examples ranging from his work in the Middle East to a deeply moving story about reconciling with his father. He explains why we disconnect from people at the very time we need to be most connected and the predictable patterns of justification and escalation that ensue. Most importantly, he gives us a path to practice dangerous love in the conflicts that matter most to us.

Divided Fire

Divided Fire
Author: Jennifer San Filippo
Publisher: Clarion Books
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2020-11-10
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1328489191

Kesia and her older sister Miren have kept secret that Kesia's a talented Fire Singer. When Kesia is kidnapped, she must summon her courage and use her magic in new and dangerous ways. Meanwhile, Miren will do anything to get her sister back, including teaming up with Kesia's seemingly inept beau.

Talking Across the Divide

Talking Across the Divide
Author: Justin Lee
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2018-08-14
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0143132709

A guide to learning how to communicate with people who have diametrically opposed opinions from you, how to empathize with them, and how to (possibly) change their minds America is more polarized than ever. Whether the issue is Donald Trump, healthcare, abortion, gun control, breastfeeding, or even DC vs Marvel, it feels like you can't voice an opinion without ruffling someone's feathers. In today's digital age, it's easier than ever to build walls around yourself. You fill up your Twitter feed with voices that are angry about the same issues and believe as you believe. Before long, you're isolated in your own personalized echo chamber. And if you ever encounter someone outside of your bubble, you don't understand how the arguments that resonate so well with your peers can't get through to anyone else. In a time when every conversation quickly becomes a battlefield, it's up to us to learn how to talk to each other again. In Talking Across the Divide, social justice activist Justin Lee explains how to break through the five key barriers that make people resist differing opinions. With a combination of psychological research, pop-culture references, and anecdotes from Justin's many years of experience mediating contentious conversations, this book will help you understand people on the other side of the argument and give you the tools you need to change their minds--even if they've fallen for "fake news."

Hopelessly Divided

Hopelessly Divided
Author: Douglas E. Schoen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2012
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442215232

Analyzes the widening gap between politicians, including lobbyists and consultants, and the American mainstream, and discusses the rise in populist movements that threatens to drive the two-party system to its collapse.

Four Threats

Four Threats
Author: Suzanne Mettler
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2020-08-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781250244420

An urgent, historically-grounded take on the four major factors that undermine American democracy, and what we can do to address them. While many Americans despair of the current state of U.S. politics, most assume that our system of government and democracy itself are invulnerable to decay. Yet when we examine the past, we find that to the contrary, the United States has undergone repeated crises of democracy, from the earliest days of the republic to the present. In The Four Threats, Robert C. Lieberman and Suzanne Mettler explore five historical episodes when democracy in the United States was under siege: the 1790s, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, the Depression, and Watergate. These episodes risked profound, even fatal, damage to the American democratic experiment, and on occasion antidemocratic forces have prevailed. From this history, four distinct characteristics of democratic disruption emerge. Political polarization, racism and nativism, economic inequality, and excessive executive power – alone or in combination – have threatened the survival of the republic, but it has survived, so far. What is unique, and alarming, about the present moment is that all four conditions are present in American politics today. This formidable convergence marks the contemporary era as an especially grave moment for democracy in the United States. But history provides a valuable repository from which contemporary Americans can draw lessons about how democracy was eventually strengthened — or in some cases weakened — in the past. By revisiting how earlier generations of Americans faced threats to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, we can see the promise and the peril that have led us to the present and chart a path toward repairing our civic fabric and renewing democracy.