Books in Brief
Churn: The Tension That Divides Us and How to Overcome It
Author: Claude M. Steele
Via Liveright
“Too often, we deal with the commonplace tensions of diversity and difference by pretending they don’t exist, by avoiding talking and relating to one another across what can seem like wide chasms of identity difference. Steele highlights a different path forward, a path rooted in trying to see full humanity and potential in human difference. He spells out practices—as he puts it, “a game played on the ground”—for how to build trust across all kinds of human divides: between individuals, or in larger settings, like classrooms, board rooms, even in whole institutions, corporations, and organizations. It is a game we can all play, he believes. Churn doesn’t dwell on age-old tensions that continue to fester. It provides tangible ways to make a better world in the fractured society we inhabit."
Steele is the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Emeritus, and professor, emeritus, in the Department of Psychology.
