The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization

A Kelman Seminar Series virtual talk with Peter Colman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Education, Columbia University

The partisan divide in the United States has widened to a chasm. Legislators vote on party lines and rarely cross the aisle. Surveys show that Americans have become more fearful and hateful of supporters of the opposing political party and imagine that they hold much more extreme views than they actually do. How can we loosen the grip of this toxic polarization and start working on our most pressing problems?

Peter Coleman’s research in The Way Out offers an escape from this morass. His book explores how conflict resolution and complexity science provide guidance for dealing with seemingly intractable political differences. Coleman meticulously details principles and practices for navigating and healing the difficult divides in our homes, workplaces, and communities, blending compelling personal accounts from his years of working on entrenched conflicts with lessons from leading-edge research.