Polarisation and its key actors

between social cohesion and polarisation is complex and fluid, there are observable and experiential indicators6 that can allow local authorities to assess and monitor social cohesion and polarisation at the local level (see Part 2).

Polarisation and its key actors

In his publication Polarisation: Understanding the dynamics of us versus them7, Bart Brandsma presents polarisation as a way of interpreting one’s social world based on ‘us-and-them’ categories, fuelled by identity discourses that reinforce oppositional group categories, and maintained by experiences of threat, fear, anxiety and anger. Indeed, much research has found that a sense of threat in times of uncertainty can drive individuals and communities to seek refuge in homogeneous groups with clear inclusion-exclusion rules that provide a sense of safety and security.8 Brandsma distinguishes between different roles or actors involved in the process of polarisation. The so-called ‘pushers’ are the drivers and advocates of antagonistic groups and their identities. Pushers try to sow or reinforce tensions and disunity between groups by exploiting incidents or conflicts and by disseminating antagonistic/hostile narratives about other groups. Their attempts to create polarisation appeal to emotions and feelings rather than to reasoning and the evaluation of facts. ‘Joiners’ are people who have been susceptible to these pushers’ appeals and thus have chosen a side. Polarisation is a process that requires constant attention and communication to successfully unfold and evolve.

‘Bridge builders’ who try to reach out and arbitrate between the opposing groups might, by acknowledging their antagonism, involuntarily reinforce polarising dynamics. Bartsma’s category of ‘scapegoats’ refers to people or groups that are being blamed or attacked.

6- See for example UNODC (2010), Manual on Victimization Surveys, p.4., or Council of Europe (2005), Methodological Guide to the Concerted Development of Social Cohesion Indicators, Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing, p.28. 7- Brandsma, B. (2017). 8- Schmid et al. (2009).