Amanda Ripley won a Christopher Award for book "High Conflict"

Washington, D.C.-based Author Amanda Ripley was honored with a Christopher Award for High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out (Simon & Schuster), one of 12 books for adults and young people recognized in the #ChristopherAwards 73rd year. The authors join writers, producers and directors of 10 winning TV/cable and feature films.

Ripley’s book offers practical solutions and real-life examples on de-escalating tensions, practicing open-mindedness, and engaging in healthy discussions. She wrote on her website: "When we are baffled by the insanity of the 'other side'—in our politics, at work, or at home—it’s because we aren’t seeing how the conflict itself has taken over. That’s what 'high conflict' does. It’s the invisible hand of our time. It's what happens when discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, the kind with an us and a them. In this state, the brain behaves differently. We feel increasingly certain of our own superiority and, at the same time, more and more mystified by the other side."

Excerpts from her book include:

• Lots of forces got us to this place, most of which you know about already. Automation, globalization, badly regulated markets, and rapid social change have caused waves of anxiety and suspicion. That fear makes it easy for leaders, pundits, and platforms to exploit our most reliable social fizzures, including prejudices of all kinds.
• Let’s just acknowledge that high conflict can be useful. It feels good. It gives life meaning. But these days, high conflict has reached the upper limit of its usefulness. Again and again, the problems we face as a civilization seem to be made worse – – not better – – by high conflict.
• We are all connected. We have to adapt. This is the central challenge of our time. To create institutions in society is designed for healthy conflict, not high conflict. Built to respond to problems without collapsing into dehumanization. We know this is possible because people have done it, in big and small ways, all over the planet, as will see.

Amanda Ripley is the New York Times bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World, and The Unthinkable. She writes for The Atlantic, Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

The celebrated authors, illustrators, writers, producers, and directors, whose works exemplify this Chinese proverb “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness,” also “affirm the highest values of the human spirit,” said Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications. “After the hardships and suffering we’ve witnessed and endured in the last two years, we need stories of hope, light, and unity to lift our spirits and guide us toward a brighter path,” he said.

The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.