Politics, especially in the Western world, is becoming more partisan and divided at every election. Whilst Britain hasn’t hit this trend too explicitly as a result of our multi-party system (although the 2024 General Election may prove instrumental in accelerating this trend!), political partisanship has become bitterly poignant in America. But this has all arisen relatively quickly. So how did America get here? And how can we prevent our country from going the same way?
Political Tribes discusses tribal culture, its historical origins and its resurging importance in politics, with a specific focus on that of the United States. It takes us through some of the United States’ most disastrous episodes in foreign policy and military thinking, namely the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, before returning to the country itself. Looking at the Trump campaign in 2016 and discussing issues of racism, identity and intersectionality, posing an insight into why America has become so divisively split, with both the Right and the Left at fault.
Getting into this book took a little while, I’ll be honest. But when I did, namely around the events of Iraq and the state of politics in the United States, it was a fascinating read. Particularly talking about how politics has become so partisan is a topic that needs more attention focused on it that it is given, it talks about how the rise in identity politics can largely be attributed to this partisanship. Using examples from modern solidarity and protest movements, it poses that a rise of ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’, both by the Right and the Left can leave individuals feeling rejected from one side, naturally pushing them into the arms of the other, which also explains why deep political partisanship is often explained along the lines of another factor – race.
Whilst I didn’t agree with everything posed and all of the points made, Chua weaves a compelling case, arguing that the only way to prevent further partisanship is to ensure that both the Left and Right are always looking to reach across the divide and understand each other, rather than relegating each side as “offensive” or “exclusionary”. If you’re at all politically active, I urge you to read this book, or at least the final chapter and epilogue, and try to remain mindful about how you engage with people of different political backgrounds to yourself – preventing divisions like those in America may depend on it!
Rating: ★★★★☆
Political Tribes (ISBN: 978-1-4088-8157-6) was published in 2018
