Rachel Wahl
Research and teaching on democracy, political disagreement, and civic life
Professor of the Social Foundations of Education, University of Virginia Director, Good Life Political Project, Karsh Institute of Democracy
Rachel Wahl studies how citizens can live together amid deep political disagreement.
New · October 2026
Keeping Our Enemies Closer
Drawing on years of research with students, community members, activists, and officials, Wahl examines what happens when people engage those with whom they profoundly disagree: why it is difficult, what they learn, and where dialogue falls short.
Two books, one question
From campus dialogue to police-community relations across continents, Wahl’s research explores how people make moral and political judgments in contexts marked by conflict, inequality, and competing visions of the good society.
Keeping Our Enemies Closer
University of Pennsylvania Press · 2026
Campus dialogue and police-community forums, and what talking across difference can and cannot do for democracy.
Just Violence
Stanford University Press · 2017
How police officers in India understand violence, justice, and human rights.
Writing, talks, and media.
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