Fighting better: constructive conflicts in America

The people in the United States are experiencing an extreme degree of division, political polarization, and civic disorder. In Fighting Better, Louis Kriesberg argues that the crises confronting the US presently are the result of changes in dynamics along three societal dimensions: class, status, and power. Those changes were brought about to a great degree by people waging conflicts constructively, destructively, or avoiding overt conflicts altogether. Assessing major domestic conflicts in the United States since 1945, Kriesberg evaluates how well conflicts were waged in terms of advancing justice, liberty, and equal opportunity for all Americans.

The people in the United States are experiencing an extreme degree of division, political polarization, and civic disorder. In 'Fighting Better', Louis Kriesberg argues that the crises confronting the US presently are the result of changes in dynamics along three societal dimensions: class, status, and power. Those changes were brought about to a great degree by people waging conflicts constructively, destructively, or avoiding overt conflicts altogether. Assessing major domestic conflicts in the United States since 1945, Kriesberg evaluates how well conflicts were waged in terms of advancing justice, liberty, and equal opportunity for all Americans.

"This original and wide-ranging book examines how conflicts may have been more or less constructively conducted and affected the changing class, status, and power inequality in America since 1945. Initially, it assesses how some conflicts destructively contributed to increasing class inequality, with its many unfortunate consequences. It also assesses other conflicts that contributed or might have contributed constructively to fostering less class inequality. Then the book examines conflicts that contributed to some increases in status equality, notably of African Americans and women. Finally it goes on to analyze many specific conflicts that yielded varied and uneven changes in power inequality for different kinds of people. This book indicates how the destructively conducted conflicts contributed to the many contemporary antagonistic divisions currently threatening U.S. democracy. Throughout, possible constructive ways of fighting are noted or suggested, providing hopeful future options This book analyzes numerous conflicts at the national and local levels, both hidden and violent, including constructive conflict transformations. These social science analyses enable judgments to be made of better ways of contending that might have avoided the adverse consequences of many destructive conflicts in the past. The core ideas of the constructive conflict approach are tested as they were varyingly applied to struggles relating to class, status and power inequalities in America. Moreover, and importantly, the book suggests how persons applying the core ideas of the constructive conflict approach can help transform the current political and societal distress in the U.S. and avoid and overcome its many destructive outcomes"--