REMAKING THE SPACE BETWEEN US

In this nonfiction work, the former chief executive partner of the venture philanthropy firm New Profit challenges American readers to find new avenues of common ground.

Most people in the United States, Smith notes in this book’s introduction, are among the 87% of those “wedged between the 13 percent on the far right and left.” Her book aims to challenge assumptions that drive conversations about American society and politics by highlighting, for instance, the “significant perception gap” between what Republicans and Democrats think the other party believes and what rank-and-file members of those parties actually believe. She cites studies by the nonprofit More in Common that found that most partisans overestimated the percentage of extremist views inside their rival’s party. Despite the author’s acknowledgment of “brutal facts” and “existential threats” to democracy, this collection of essays encourages reconciliation in its four parts. Part One begins with an exploration of “Our Evolutionary Legacy” and the seemingly paradoxical human impulses toward cooperating within one’s own in-group and competing with outsider groups. The book’s second part surveys current forces of radicalism, including the January 6 insurrection. The rest of the book shifts to a more solutions-oriented perspective that urges cooperation across the ideological spectrum. Part Three, for example, features an essay on “Befriending Your Ideological Enemy,” and Part Four examines ways in which citizens can better use journalism, accounts of American history, and social media to mend “a social fabric so frayed it risks falling apart.” Smith draws on a lifetime of grassroots and boardroom experience, including years as a community organizer in Boston. The book’s credible narrative is backed by an impressive collection of 280 footnotes; even its more counterintuitive claims, such as “Americans are not as entrenched as we are led to believe,” are accompanied by solid research. At fewer than 200 total pages, this is an accessible book that also features a wealth of charts, graphs, and other visual aids.

A well-researched case for addressing ideological divisions.