Episode #37 - Social Identity & Political Discourse

Continuing further our recent conversations on politics and political engagement from a Christian perspective (cf. the episodes entitled, "Faith and Politics with Rev. Baroness Maeve Sherlock" and "War & Political Theology with Michael Spalione"), Dr. John Anthony Dunne and Dr. Chris Porter discuss social identity theory and how our social identity shapes our present lack of bi-partisanship in the States and the degrading nature of our political discourse with those in the "out group." Chris explains that the theory originates with Henri Tajfel, noting some of his interesting experiments that show how much we favor the various "in groups" of which we are a part to the detriment of perceived "out groups." Along the way we discuss stereotyping and categorization, the metrics of "normative fit" (emphasizing who "we" are) and "comparative fit" (noting who "we" are not by comparison to an "out group"), the difficulty of compromise from a social identity perspective, and the implications that this all has for nuanced thinking that is regarded as deviant from the "normative fit" of the "in group." All the while Chris shares his perspective on the 2020 US election season from his unique vantage point in Australia.

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