03/07/2018

Splintered Society: Convening Communities in Divisive Times

Our cultural and political climate has simply gotten too dicey

The aspiration expressed in America’s founding motto, E pluribus unum—“out of many, one”—seems a far cry from 21st-century reality. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are more divided now than at any time since Pew started tracking political values in 1994.

And a splintered society can quickly generate fear and distrust. Look no further than the current state of two-party politics: In 2016, 55 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of Republicans said they were “afraid” of the other, according to Pew.

As conveners and community builders, associations depend on people’s willingness and ability to talk to one another, build consensus where possible, and disagree without being disagreeable. That kind of civil interaction is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly as associations confront polarization over wedge issues that have the potential to divide their members and other stakeholders into conflicting camps.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.