How Politics Became Our Identity Our Dream Deferred

In this episode, we’re joined by Lilliana Mason, Professor of Political Science at Johns
Hopkins University's SNF Agora Institute, and author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. Bringing together her unique blended expertise in political science and social psychology, Lilliana (Lily) digs into the details behind partisan animosity and the disturbing increase in extreme partisanship, especially changing attitudes toward the use of violence in politics.

Importantly, Lily’s work is helping us understand how the study of intergroup conflict applies in politics. Her work shows that Americans have becoming increasingly "socially sorted," resulting in lives where we live, work, and engage almost exclusively with people who share our identities—and the ways this sorting leads to distrust and otherizing, dramatically shifting attitudes and beliefs about others outside of one’s own political identity. Sorting—and what it does to us—limits our ability to compromise and build common ground. Through her research, she is equipping all of us with the knowledge imperative to ensuring our political parties can continue to be collaborators in our democracy.
____
Resources:
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity by Lilliana Mason - https://amzn.to/3KpG9Ya 
Radical American Partisanship: Mapping Violent Hostility, Its Causes, and the Consequences for
Democracy by Nathan P. Kalmoe and Lilliana Mason - https://amzn.to/456IIpW 
____
Be a part of Our Dream Deferred: use the hashtag #OurDreamDeferred or write to us at
jgaron@aphsa.org.
Our Dream Deferred is produced by APHSA. Editing and sound design for this episode was done by Bea Mitchell.