Healthy Conflict in Contemporary American Society

'Jason A. Springs provides a timely reframing of our contemporary debates that have littered our political, religious, and social landscape with either an eager exclusion of the 'other' as extremist lost cases or through appeals toward some form of tolerant co-existence that mostly avoids any meaningful relationship across the divides. He wades into these broiling waters with the message that deep conflict will remain, in fact contemporary polarization will likely mark our discourse for decades to come, but this reality offers opportunity to practice a core set of basic democratic habits that may guide us away from this descending toward dysfunctional harm. Social health, he argues, depends not on denigrating the other or pursuing echo chambers, but on sustaining relationships that persist in carving qualities of imagination, a dose of empathic patience, and the courage to stay engaged with those who we find remarkably different and even offensive.' John Paul Lederach, author of The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace and Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
'In a time of seemingly intractable conflicts, Jason A. Springs offers a thought-provoking analysis of what it takes to make headway in transforming those conflicts. That's the good news. The bad news is that it will not be easy or necessarily pleasant. It requires honing our skills for listening, living with dissonance and irresolution, stretching our imaginations, and facing our deepest fears without succumbing to despair or cynicism. Springs gathers these insights from philosophers, activists, sociologists, religious studies, preachers, peace studies, and comedians to construct vital recommendations for how to proceed with the problems we face.' Beth Eddy, author of The Rites of Identity: The Religious Naturalism and Cultural Criticism of Kenneth Burke and Ralph Ellison and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts
'Jason A. Springs urges us not to stick our heads in the sand, but to confront unflinchingly, with imagination and courage, the conflicts that threaten to rend our way of life. Liberal tolerance isn't the answer. Instead, 'healthy conflict' can be the basis for enduring social and political change. This is an important and timely book.' Eddie Glaude, Princeton University