“Healing A Polarized World”: Jennifer McCoy On Creating Unity From Division

Jennifer McCoy, Rachel Donald, Resilience

September 11, 2024

Journalist and podcaster Rachel Donald speaks with Jennifer McCoy, professor of political science at Georgia State University and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on pernicious polarization in the U.S. and across the planet. They discuss the influence of “political entrepreneurs” and the implications of a world facing increasing resource constraints, which can exacerbate polarization and conflict within and between nations. Professor McCoy offers examples of nations that overcame pernicious polarization and points to “win-win” strategies for navigating the 21st century’s challenges.

Here is a preview of the interview. The full video is available to Resilience+ members only.

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Featured Image: Andrii Gorb, c/o Adobe Stock

Jennifer McCoy

Jennifer McCoy is professor of political science at Georgia State University and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Specializing in international and comparative politics. She is the co-author of “Reducing Pernicious Polarization: A Comparative Historical Analysis of Depolarization.” Dr. McCoy’s areas of expertise include democratic resilience, democratic erosion, and partisan polarization; crisis prevention and conflict resolution; democracy promotion and collective defense of democracy; election processes and international election observation; and Latin American Politics. McCoy’s research program on polarized politics aims to identify the causes, consequences for democracy, and solutions to polarized societies around the world, including the United States. She coined the term “pernicious polarization” to refer to the political polarization that divides societies into mutually distrustful “Us vs. Them” camps, and undermines the capacity of democracies to address critical policy problems.