I have always been fascinated with ideas and ideologies and how people can interpret the world differently. As a teenager I wanted to become an ethnographer, to travel the world and discover other cultures. Now I focus mostly on Europe and the US, but I always look to challenge myself by talking with people who hold opposing views. I am impressed by the revival of religious, nationalist, and conservative ideas in our current world and how they offer their own philosophy of the social order. That’s why I selected books that can help me see the world through the eyes of others.
Illiberalism is an ideological family that groups together different thinkers, politicians, and regimes which all criticize liberalism for being excessive…
This is my preferred book on this topic because it offers a pungent story of how pride and shame matter to our understanding of politics. Arlie Russell Hochschild already wrote another terrific book on Louisiana a few years ago, so I was really looking forward to this new one on the Appalachian post-industrial communities.
The way she describes small events of everyday life and how they influence voting patterns struck a chord with me. It tells us how politics at the grassroots level is, in fact, about making sense of the world around us and navigating difficulties, and it’s all about emotions and the way we deal with the question, “What about me?” It’s a superb book for deconstructing “high politics” and shows how far away people may feel from decisions made in Washington, DC.
In her first book since the widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Arlie Russell Hochschild now ventures to Appalachia, uncovering the "pride paradox" that has given the right's appeals such resonance.
A 2024 New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Pick
For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we've ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a…
This is a great book for capturing the urban-rural divide in the US as one of the key components to understanding our polarization. It is based on history but also on a large survey done of rural populations, so there is a lot of great detail on all the grievances accumulated by different rural groups and how they are framed.
I was particularly intrigued by its discussion of the nostalgic aspect—the idea that a traditional way of life is dying and the feeling of becoming an “endangered species” that needs to be preserved.
The widening gulf between rural and urban America is becoming the most serious political divide of our day. Support for Democrats, up and down the ballot, has plummeted throughout the countryside, and the entire governing system is threatened by one-party dominance. After Donald Trump's surprising victories throughout rural America, pundits and journalists went searching for answers, popping into roadside diners and opining from afar. Rural Americans are supposedly bigots, culturally backward, lazy, scared of the future, and radical. But is it that simple? Is the country splintering between two very different Americas-one rural, one urban?
For all those like me who are not familiar with Evangelical culture, this is the perfect book; very pedagogical in its explanations. It shows the key ideas and institutions that have pushed a large part of the Evangelical world to rally around Donald Trump.
For me, the most interesting part was the aspect of spiritual warfare, a notion that I studied while working on Russian ideologies. The idea of a forthcoming civil war, either real or feared, and how it can be read through Biblical themes related to eschatology is something that left a lasting impression on me.
This book introduces the American Evangelical movement and the role it played in the support of Donald Trump. Specifically, it focuses on the Neocharismatic-Pentecostal (NCP) leaders, their beliefs, and their political strategies. The author examines why 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016, and why he still received between 76% and 81% of their vote in 2020 despite losing the presidency. Additionally, the book discusses how NCP leaders are part of the Christian Right, a religious coalition with a political agenda centered on controversial issues such as anti-abortion activism, opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, and the protection of religious…
I enjoyed this book because it goes right to what is a core issue of our contemporary political landscape: how formerly Democratic blue-collar communities have been shifting their political orientation toward the Republicans.
I also loved the combination of ethnographic analysis and historical perspective the two authors display to look at the transformation of our trade union culture (in their case, in Pennsylvania). It tells us how much everyday sociability—how we spend our leisure time, which social groups we belong to, etc.—has reshaped our political worldview.
In the heyday of American labor, the influence of local unions extended far beyond the workplace. Unions were embedded in tight-knit communities, touching nearly every aspect of the lives of members-mostly men-and their families and neighbors. They conveyed fundamental worldviews, making blue-collar unionists into loyal Democrats who saw the party as on the side of the working man. Today, unions play a much less significant role in American life. In industrial and formerly industrial Rust Belt towns, Republican-leaning groups and outlooks have burgeoned among the kinds of voters who once would have been part of union communities.
This book was a discovery for me, as I know very little about Latino culture, but it’s super well-written and argued. Paula Ramos presents us with the whole spectrum of Latino figures who rallied to the Republican Party and their reasoning behind this, but she also adds a lot of personal introspection to it.
As a European émigré in the US, I could relate to many of her stories about what it means to embrace American national identity and the issues immigrants and second and third generations have to address.
An award-winning journalist's exploration of how race, identity and political trauma have influenced the rise in far-right sentiment among Latinos, and how this group can shape American politics
“A deeply reported, surprisingly personal exploration of a phenomenon that is little understood in our politics: the affiliation of Latino voters with causes and candidates that would seem, at first glance, unwelcoming to them."—Rachel Maddow
Democrats have historically assumed they can rely on the Latino vote, but recent elections have called that loyalty into question. In fact, despite his vociferous anti-immigrant rhetoric and disastrous border policies, Trump won a higher percentage of…
Illiberalism is an ideological family that groups together different thinkers, politicians, and regimes which all criticize liberalism for being excessive and dangerous. They propose solutions that are based on reviving the nation-state and national sovereignty against multilateralism and globalization, on recreating the common good by pushing for a more culturally (and sometimes ethnically) homogenous nation, on promoting strictly majoritarianism and sometimes authoritarian institutions, and on preserving a socially conservative order shaped by traditional hierarchies.
Illiberalism has become the cornerstone concept for understanding why liberalism’s hegemony is now being challenged and weakened domestically and internationally. This volume offers many of the keys needed to capture current societal and ideological transformations, with Trumpism's popular success being one of the most visible of these phenomena.
I’ve always been fascinated by group dynamics, large and small. Why things functioned well, why they didn’t. It’s possible my ability to empathize and use humor as a consensus-builder is the reason I was elected president of a homeowners association, a music production association, and even an agricultural group. Books were not particularly involved in this fascination! But in recent years, experiencing the breakdown of civility and trust in our political and cultural discourse, I’ve taken a more analytical view of the dynamics. These books, in their very different ways, have taught me lessons about life, understanding those with different beliefs, and finding ways to connect and move forward.
We’ve all experienced the overwhelming level of political and social divisiveness in our country. This invisible “virus” of negativity is, in part, the result of the name-calling and heated rhetoric that has become commonplace among commentators and elected leaders alike.
My book provides a clear perspective on the historical and modern-day causes of our nation's divisive state. It then proposes easy-to-understand solutions—an action plan for our elected leaders and citizens as well. Rather than a scholarly treatment of a complex topic, the book challenges us to take the obvious steps required of those living in a free democracy. And it…
Uniting the States of America: A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation
Lyle Greenfield's "Uniting the States of America―A Self-Care Plan for a Wounded Nation" is a work of nonfiction and opinion. Incorporating the lessons of history and the ideas and wisdom of many, it is intended as both an educational resource and a call-to-action for citizens concerned about the politically and culturally divided state of our Union. A situation that has raised alarm for the very future of our democracy.
First, the book clearly identifies the causes of what has become a national crisis of belief in and love for our country. How the divisiveness and hostility rampant in our political…
