Public dialogue across identity lines counters the over-represented narrative of irreconcilable division

Evidence

Even if eliminating category salience can seem theoretically advantageous, group memberships are frequently both subjectively and collectively meaningful and emotionally significant, and in such cases group members are reluctant to surrender their identity and distinctiveness (Brewer, 1991). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1817 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

One recategorization strategy, represented by our own work on the Common Ingroup Identity Model, involves interventions to change people’s conceptions of distinct group memberships to either a single, more inclusive group, or to subgroups within a more inclusive superordinate group (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000). Allport’s (1954/1979, p. 43) “circles of inclusion” diagram nicely depicts the idea that a person’s potential ingroups can vary hierarchically in inclusiveness, for example from one’s family to one’s neighborhood, to one’s city, to one’s nation, to all of humankind. With recategorization, perceptions of group boundaries of “us” and “them” are transformed into a more inclusive “we.” — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 564 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rhetorical talk of border crossing lacks force without concrete cross-group dialogue examples; Prejudice is sustained through routine conversational identity categorization — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice: Society,…, 508; Decentered pluralism requires continuous deconstruction of sacralized identity narratives — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 863 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Some suffering resists articulation when public dialogue is skewed #qualifies (0.83)
• Group members resist surrendering meaningful category identities during intergroup contact #qualifies (0.82) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1817
• Fault line wars harden once-plural identities into polarized us-versus-them #complicates (0.80)
• Reframing outgroups as part of a shared superordinate identity reduces bias #expands (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 564
• Prejudice is sustained through routine conversational identity categorization #complicates (0.78) — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 508
• A common group identity mediates contact’s bias reduction rather than merely aiding it #expands (0.76) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 572
• Recategorization into a common identity, not cooperation itself, reduces intergroup bias #expands (0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 572
• Identity is constructed through discourse and dialogic interaction, not self-creation #expands (0.74) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 23
• Decentered pluralism requires continuous deconstruction of sacralized identity narratives #qualifies (0.72) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 863