Americans don’t move much anymore and Yoni Appelbaum thinks that’s a serious problem. Appelbaum, a historian and deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, is the author of a new book exploring how and why Americans have become less likely to settle in new places.

In Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity, he examines in illuminating detail the consequences of this decline in geographic mobility — both for individuals and for the broader political and economic landscape of the US, where the freedom to move to different parts of the country has long shaped the nation’s identity.

I spoke with Appelbaum about mobility acting as a form of social glue, the trade-offs of tenements, and his ideas for getting Americans moving around again. Our conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Your research found that Donald Trump’s strongest support in 2016 came from people who stayed in and around their hometowns, while those who moved away were more likely to back Hillary Clinton. Do you see a connection between staying put and a rightward political drift?

There’s a lot of good social science research to suggest that moving doesn’t just change people’s economic destinies and the prospects of their children, it shifts their whole mindset. Researchers have found that people who relocate to new places are more open to new experiences, they tend to necessarily be more open to diversity, and conceive of the world as a place where there can be win-wins.

People who want to move, and can’t, grow more cynical, more pessimistic, more inclined to see the world as zero-sum. They may also grow more isolated, more set in their ways and habits. I think that a society that ties people down is likely to produce a politics that views change as threatening and diversity as dangerous.

Your book powerfully argues that geographic mobility shaped America’s innovative spirit. But moving often means leaving behind the family, friends, and neighbors who give our lives real meaning. Is there a way to recapture the benefits of mobility without asking people to repeatedly uproot their deepest local ties?

I was surprised as I researched the book to see what a large role mobility had played in shaping the distinctive character of America, not just in terms of economics. Maybe the most surprising thing is what an enormous role it’s played in shaping the vitality of American community. When people relocate, they tend to feel lonely when they first arrive, and respond to that feeling by reaching out, by making connections, by making themselves do uncomfortable things like joining organizations.

We often think of mobility as something that dissolves the ties that mean the most to us. In practice, though, in the US, mobility has usually served as a kind of social glue, as the thing which binds us to each other. And if you look at the last 50 years with a really sharp decline in mobility, we have simultaneously seen a really sharp decline in other kinds of social ties. That’s not coincidental.

You also argue that mobility is crucial for the ability of an economy to grow and create new opportunities. Do........

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