Polarization

Introduction

Wherever we look today it seems that the phenomenon of polarization is on the rise. Whether it’s the ascendance of nationalist parties, the weakening of multinational cohesion, increasing socio-economic inequality, a rekindling of tensions between the West and Russia, or the division of political opinions and attitudes within and between Western societies into dichotomous and mutually exclusive camps—examples of us vs. them frameworks, in-group and out-group dichotomies, and rival camps of public opinion are easy to find. Clearly, the phenomenon of polarization is nothing new: tribal identities have always been central to our social existence, and polarized conceptions of us vs. them have likely been used to frame and shape politics ...