Recent BI and Substack Posts

In addition to more links to interesting projects that our democracy, conflict, and peace colleagues are doing, recommended articles on tech, education, and changing demographics.

Constructive confrontation applies conflict resolution theory and practice to advocacy efforts in an effort to limit pushback and maximize attainment of ones interests and needs.

In addition to more links to interesting projects that our democracy, conflict, and peace colleagues are doing, recommended articles on political moderates, the lifetime insights of prominent social activists, ways of limiting done violence, and other topics.

Bad-faith actors can and do use a massively parallel strategy to drive us apart. But that doesn't mean that the strategy is bad -- it means that it is effective. Good-faith actors need to learn how to use these techniques to bring us together.

A look at what we know about reducing the mutual hostility (associated with escalation and hyper-polarization dynamics) that contributes so much to mass shootings, gun deaths, and interpersonal and political violence.

Advocacy plays a key role in Massively Parallel Peacebuilding.  But, this role can either be supportive and helpful, or destructive, depending on how it is done. 

How do we distinguish when taking a stand is what’s absolutely called for – because we’ve reached the tipping point of uncivil politics/undemocratic behaviors? But perhaps we need to find a better way of doing it.

Now is our time to re-rebuild our democracy, and it will take all of us, working on multi-faceted solutions at the local, state, and national levels.

Links to things that our colleagues are doing at places like Search for Common Ground, Renew America, the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, as well as fifteen fascinating articles that help us understand the complexity of society-wide intractable conflict.

Reader-contributed links plus Guy's suggestions of interesting and important readings for this week.

If we were to map all the challenges Google-maps style, and then each person or organization were to adopt one or two of the challenges that were not widely adopted by others, that could have a much bigger impact. 

Rather than continuing to post individual links on social media, I have decided to start posting a larger collection of such links each week in the Beyond Intractability Substack Newsletter.

Massive social change IS possible if people decide they want to work at it! 

Curiosity will get you SO FAR. …Never underestimate the power of being curious and likeable!  It will get you so far in life! And it’s massively, massively underestimated.

A discussion of ends and means, incentives, interventions, scale, challenges, successes, visions--Kristen's vision is clear and exceptionally wide ranging at the same time. (Summary of full interview)

To really do bridge building work credibly, you can't assume an outcome. You have to move upstream. and you have to be about means and not about ends. You have to trust that the ends will go where the universe wants them to go. (Full interview)

Defusing the hyper-polarization spiral is an extremely large and complex task. This newsletter introduces a promising strategy for working at this level.

A comparison of three conflict roles, all of which are needed to successfully confront challenging and complex social problems and issues.

A review of a new (December 2022) book looking at the struggle for class, status, and power equity in the United States from 1945- 2022, drawing lessons about what strategies work and which don't.

A review of Louis Kriesberg's seven elements of constructive conflict, as illustrated in the closing chapter of his new book Fighting Better: Constructive Conflicts in America.

Just as a body needs coordination between its different parts, so does the democracy ecosystem. Everyone has a role to play!

Transforming democracy is an adaptive challenge requiring flexibility, adaptability and intentionality in organizing to enable organizations and millions of Americans to work in unison.

Fixing democracy is everyone's responsibility: we can't leave it to our leaders or the other side. Everyone can -- and must -- do their part.

Issue polarization can help people come closer to understanding "the truth" about controversial events or issues. How information is presented to parties in conflicts makes a big difference to the quality of the conflict that ensues.

Boulding's First Law is ""If it exists, it must be possible." All of the essential elements of democracy exist--though sometimes in other contexts. We need to implement them in our governance systems.