Building Conflict Resilience: It's Not Just About Problem-Solving

Political polarization in the United States and internationally has increased enormously in the past decade, resulting in legislative impasse in some countries, political instability and partisan re-alignment in others, and decreased levels of communication, trust, and cooperation across partisan lines in schools, communities, and across the nation. As partisan polarization has increased, I have observed several perceptible changes in the way law school students engage each other around political differences and conflict in the classroom. From conversations with my colleagues, I am not alone in observing these trends.