Fighting Polarisation

Cherian George is Professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

• Acknowledgements   1. The challenge: From ‘us versus them’ to a larger ‘we’   2. Campus conversations: Human connections in a time of war3. Journalism goes horizontal: News of and for the people  4. Pro-social social media: The lost horizon of digital democracy 5. Interfaith interventions: Religious conflict and radical love6. Settler-native co-governance of the natural world  7. Memory activism: Reconciling with a divided past8. Ground games: Grassroots antidotes to partisan divides  9. Reforming democracy: Good dictators and citizens’ assemblies10. Conversations, confrontations, and courage  Works Cited

"An invaluable contribution to those who seek to reclaim our shared humanity amid intensifying hate. It presents a raft of depolarising initiatives, some recent, some decades old, but all tested for when and how they are impactful. A liberating and empowering read!"Ahmed Shaheed, University of Essex"In this easy-to-read and timely book, Cherian George tackles tough topics such as polarisation, fascism, and ethnoreligious nationalism. The vivid case studies illustrate how community and care can serve as antidotes. Democracy, therefore, is not just electoral politics. It is the everyday practices of resistances that centre deliberation, diversity, and dialogues."Srivi Ramasubramanian, Syracuse University