Episode 112: How "Polarization" Discourse Flattens Power Dynamics and Says Nothing
"Polarization Is Dividing American Society, Not Just Politics,\u201d laments The New York Times. \u201cThe Constitution Is Threatened by Tribalism,\u201d frets The Atlantic. \u201cAmerican politics has reached peak polarization,\u201d declares Vox. After the past few election cycles, and as uprisings occur throughout the country, we\u2019ve seen endless concern about our alleged zenith of \u201cpolarization\u201d and \u201ctribalism.\u201d
The Right and the Left, we are told, have grown too radical and today lack the ability to \u201cget things done\u201d and \u201ccome together\u201d with a \u201cshared reality.\u201d It\u2019s a superficially appealing narrative\u200a\u2014\u200aone nostalgic for a non-specified past time of ideal consensus building and Reasonable Centrism.
But it\u2019s also a narrative driven by a fantasy that ignores material forces that have shifted the U.S. political establishment further to the right, as the ruling political and economic class has helped sow distrust and paranoia with decades of deadly wars, runaway and rampant inequality, lethal racism and the failed promises of endless economic growth.
On this episode, we explore the origins of \u201cpolarization\u201d and \u201cpartisan tribalism\u201d discourse, profile its biggest pushers, detail who it serves\u2013\u2013and who it gets off the hook\u2013\u2013and lay out why reductionist and vague \u201cpolarization\u201d laments are so beloved by our media and political elite.\xa0
Our guest is journalist and writer Osita Nwanevu.