Overcoming Hyper-Polarization, Escalation, and the Forces of Disintegration

6. Civic Knowledge and Skills

In a sense, this is what this entire Guide is about, so I could write about anything and everything in this entire set of materials here. But we put this here because hyper-polarization and escalation are two (closely linked) overlay factors, and a key towards confronting conflicts effectively is limiting those overlay factors. So it is in this context that this section is included here.

As is true with many problems, it is much easier to avoid these issues in the first place, than it is to reverse them once they have really taken hold. However, when we are talking about "intractable conflicts," these two problems most likely are strongly embedded in the conflict system already. They certainly are in United States' politics. So it is necessary to reverse these dynamics, or, at the very least, prevent them from getting worse.

The interlocking nature of the problems of escalation, and hyper-polarization means that they can usually be addressed simultaneously using the same set of strategies. And the good news is that there are lots of them ranging from being aware of the dangers of escalation and hyper-polarization and therefore not doing it when it is avoidable, maintaining or establishing relationships with "the other," separating the people from the problem (as Fisher, Ury, and Patton suggested in Getting to Yes), utilizing "negotiation loopbacks" as first used by Gandhi and advocated by Ury, Brett, and Goldberg in Getting Disputes Resolved, giving people a face-saving "way out" to avoid the "sacrifice trap" and the "shame trap," reframing conflicts from us-versus-them, to us-versus-escalation or us-versus-the problem, and also reframing from zero-sum, win-lose assumptions, to looking for win-win outcomes. And there are many more tactics and strategies to bring about de-escalation and de-polarization, all of which are covered in this section.