Understanding Polarization: Why Communities Divide—and HowThey Can Reconnect

Polarization has become one of the defining challenges of our time. Across communities, political, cultural,and social differences are increasingly driving people apart, weakening relationships, eroding trust, and, insome cases, contributing to hostility and violence. While polarization is widely discussed, its causes,dynamics, and consequences are often poorly understood.

In this two part episode, we explore the relationship between polarization and conflict by asking afundamental question: What is polarization? From contentious school board meetings and escalatingpolitical tensions to the breakdown of relationships between neighbors and communities, the discussionexamines why polarization has intensified, how it shapes our daily lives, and what can be done to reduce itsharmful effects.

Host Mercedes Allsop, Executive Assistant to the Dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peaceand Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, is joined by three members of the Carter Schoolcommunity whose research and professional experiences provide complementary perspectives on thiscritical issue.

The conversation features Dr. Daniel Rothbart, the Druscilla French Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolutionand Director of the Polarization and Violence Transformation (PiVoT) Peace Lab; Randy Lioz, Manager of the PiVoT Peace Lab, whose work includes community-based peacebuilding initiatives in California and the Washington D.C., region; and Rafiki Ubald, a doctoral student whose interdisciplinary work integrates genocide studies,memory, conflict transformation, journalism, photography, music, and the arts to better understandviolence, reconciliation, and social healing.

Together, they examine the forces that drive polarization, its impact on democratic societies and localcommunities, and practical approaches that individuals and institutions can take to build understanding,strengthen relationships, and foster more constructive dialogue across differences.

Part A - Podcast Transcript

Part B - Podcast Transcript