Political Tribalism: How it Hijacks Our Minds and Diminishes Our Humanity

The story begins with Buchanan as a middle‐class, White boy in 1950s Arkansas, absorbing and espousing the racist ideas of his parents, church, and community. This beginning intentionally inculpates the author in subsequent criticisms of tribalism and—because Buchanan left this world and came to reject its values—makes convincing his arguments at the book’s conclusion on how to escape tribalism’s tight grasp. Before offering such final prescriptions, Buchanan examines the evolutionary origins of tribalistic thinking and shows how unyielding group ideologies short‐circuit truth‐seeking, attack the meaning and purpose of a liberal education, undermine a shared national identity, and—thanks to social media—prop up a shallow and false self‐identity.

With a sharp eye toward tribalistic ideologies on the Right and the Left, Political Tribalism: How it Hijacks Our Minds and Diminishes Our Humanity is a compelling call for a healthier and deeper intellectual life of a democracy’s polity and for its individual citizens.