Strangers in their own land
2016
- political psychology
- political science / political process / elections
- liberalism
- conservatism
- political science / political ideologies / conservatism & liberalism
- history
- political sociology
- united states, politics and government
- tea party movement
- right and left (political science)
The story
"In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country--a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets--among them a Tea Party activist whose town has been swallowed by a sinkhole caused by a drilling accident--people whose concerns are actually ones that all Americans share: the desire for community, the embrace of family, and hopes for their children. Strangers in Their Own Land goes beyond the commonplace liberal idea that these are people who have been duped into voting against their own interests. Instead, Hochschild finds lives ripped apart by stagnant wages, a loss of home, an elusive American dream--and political choices and views that make sense in the context of their lives. Hochschild draws on her expert knowledge of the sociology of emotion to help us understand what it feels like to live in "red" America. Along the way she finds answers to one of the crucial questions of contemporary American politics: why do the people who would seem to benefit most from "liberal" government intervention abhor the very idea?"--
What it’s like
Plain, unhurried nonfiction prose with the feel of a long-form field notebook: the sensory world is Louisiana bayou country, humid evenings, flat wetland light, drilling-rig silhouettes and church parking lots, rendered through conversation and patient observation rather than lyrical description. The voice is calm, curious and even-handed, the sort of narration that sits beside you at a kitchen table and listens. Its mood is reflective and quietly melancholy, with a warmth that comes from the author's genuine attention to people she initially expects to disagree with. Pacing is steady and conversational, unfolding in chapters of interviews and small domestic scenes, with an arc that slowly moves from wariness toward a tender, complicated understanding. Intensity is low: no violence on the page beyond the grim, slow-building ecological and economic loss of a community, and no graphic content, though the sinkhole and the stories of lost homes carry a sober weight. It suits a slow weekend afternoon, a long train ride, or a thoughtful reader who wants to understand political feeling from the inside, especially those who want to hear conservative lives described with empathy rather than caricature, and who are comfortable with a book that asks questions more than it delivers verdicts.
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