Braver Angels: Performing Comity in a Polarized Era

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Abstract

This chapter examines Braver Angels, a grassroots organization aiming to “depolarize America.” The group’s facilitated workshops operate through a series of quasi-theatrical exercises designed to dissolve the mutual animosity between “reds” (conservatives) and “blues” (liberals). By practicing roleplay and affect management, participants are encouraged to step back from the thrill of righteous indignation, fear, and outrage in favor of the risky and sometimes unpleasant experience of listening to and learning their opponent’s worldview. They learn to perform civic comity, allowing “accurate disagreement” to replace stereotyping and dismissal in red-blue encounters. The civic performance style that Braver Angels teaches may contribute to human flourishing by breaking the lethal spiral of affective polarization in American politics. But, as critics of depolarization note, prioritizing civility can sometimes protect oppressive systems from criticism. An honest confrontation with injustice and inequality may require something other than comity. This chapter sets Braver Angels in the context of such larger debates about the best way to imagine and enact political conflict.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Theater and Human Flourishing

First Page

57

Last Page

81

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