Polarisation seems to fix people in antagonistic us/them camps. But, around the world, there are groups of citizens who refuse to give up on the democratic promise of a larger ‘we’. Challenging received prejudices and resisting tribal appeals from political leaders and social media, they practise dialogue and deliberation to nurture reciprocal respect for difference.
Guided by insights from deliberative democracy, social psychology, memory studies and other fields, Cherian George takes readers on a global, multi-sectoral tour of the fight against polarisation. On an American campus inflamed by war in the Middle East, a small group of pro-Palestine and pro-Israel students meet over meals to try to understand one another. In Indonesia, women join hands to overcome religious conflict in their hometown. In New Zealand, indigenous Mâori and the descendants of settlers serve as joint custodians of the country's longest river. The book reveals how lessons from this resistance movement help chart a path for democracies confronting division and hate.
Fighting Polarisation is enlightening reading for undergraduate and graduate students of media and communication studies, comparative politics, political sociology, human rights, and conflict studies, as well as general readers concerned about the future of democracy.
By:
Cherian George (Hong Kong Baptist University)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781509564552
ISBN 10: 1509564551
Pages: 220
Publication Date: 23 October 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements 1. The challenge: From ‘us versus them’ to a larger ‘we’ 2. Campus conversations: Human connections in a time of war 3. Journalism goes horizontal: News of and for the people 4. Pro-social social media: The lost horizon of digital democracy 5. Interfaith interventions: Religious conflict and radical love 6. Settler-native co-governance of the natural world 7. Memory activism: Reconciling with a divided past 8. Ground games: Grassroots antidotes to partisan divides 9. Reforming democracy: Good dictators and citizens’ assemblies 10. Conversations, confrontations, and courage Works Cited
Cherian George is Professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Reviews for Fighting Polarisation: Shared Communicative Spaces in Divided Democracies
""An invaluable contribution to those who seek to reclaim our shared humanity amid intensifying hate. It presents a raft of depolarising initiatives, some recent, some decades old, but all tested for when and how they are impactful. A liberating and empowering read!"" Ahmed Shaheed, University of Essex ""In this easy-to-read and timely book, Cherian George tackles tough topics such as polarisation, fascism, and ethnoreligious nationalism. The vivid case studies illustrate how community and care can serve as antidotes. Democracy, therefore, is not just electoral politics. It is the everyday practices of resistances that centre deliberation, diversity, and dialogues."" Srivi Ramasubramanian, Syracuse University
