What is Social Cohesion?

Social cohesion is the belief in the rights and well-being of all people, not just members of the in-group. It serves as the foundation of a healthy society based on a sense of belonging, connection, and shared fate.

This does not mean that everyone is the same, but that everyone deserves respect and fair treatment, even when we don’t fully understand their lives, choices, or experiences.

Why is Social Cohesion Important? 

At its heart, democracy is a social contract where we commit to working together across differences. Authoritarians seek to undermine this agreement and build power for themselves by positioning certain groups as “un-American,” “not like us,” and a threat to “our” way of life, portraying them as the cause of issues like economic instability and violence. This makes it possible for their rights to be taken away and even their very existence to be threatened by arguing that it will create a more peaceful and stable society.

This may sound dramatic, but we are already seeing this happen. From the firebombing of a Jewish event in Boulder, CO, rising Islamophobia, rollback on LGBTQ+ rights, to increased ICE involvement which has separated families, struck fear into communities, and killed dozens of people, attacks on marginalized communities across the country are growing.

At Galvanize USA, we help ideologically-moderate women make sense of the divisive narratives they are hearing. Our audience is highly compassionate and concerned about how polarized and divisive society feels. However, this concern is usually directed towards their in-group. Much of our audience is not familiar with members of marginalized groups, especially immigrants and folks in the transgender community, which makes it easier to ignore discrimination and believe harmful stereotypes, especially when they are framed around safety and fairness.

As rising gas prices from an unpopular war in Iran put additional pressure on their already strained finances and ICE attacks exacerbate feelings of fear and instability, our audience is increasingly vulnerable to othering narratives that promise an easy solution to these crises. The longer we allow these divisive narratives to continue unchecked, the more extreme they will get, and the more our democracy will be threatened.

That is why Galvanize USA invests in culture-first, research-informed programming that helps our audience build resilience against harmful narratives and fosters a sense of community across differences.

Galvanize USA’s Social Cohesion Programming 

Galvanize USA’s programming is designed to be both highly engaging and move viewers towards prosocial action. We know our audience connects more with stories of real people so our content focuses on personal connection rather than trying to explain concepts and systemic issues that may conflict with our audience’s understanding of fairness or equality. 

We know this strategy works!

From September to December 2025, our c4 affiliate organization Galvanize Action ran an experiment to examine the effectiveness of Galvanize USA’s values-based programming. Results indicate our content had a statistically significant effect on ideologically-moderate women’s willingness to say they would openly challenge friends or family who express discriminatory views, even at the risk of personal discomfort or disagreement, something we know is difficult for our audience who prioritizes harmony and fears conflict.

You may already be familiar with one of our favorite examples of this programming:

We also see our audience’s willingness to reject division and stand up for “the other” in action on our advice column Dear Grace®.

These columns show that our audience is taking prosocial action AND provides concrete, personal examples of how these actions make communities better. 

Our Friends with Grace, formerly known as In Focus, sessions guide our audience as they build a sense of collective agency.

Galvanize USA will continue to create content that supports ideologically-moderate women as they increase their willingness to stand up for those around them and expand their in-group, building a better, more connected country.