This Is Now: Arlie Russell Hochschild

When Arlie Russell Hochschild published her widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land in 2016, she gave more than critical insight into the Tea Party and the anger and mourning behind the political right: she introduced us to what she calls “deep stories” and made the compelling case that how people feel is as crucial as what they think about the issues of their time.

In her latest book, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right, Hochschild travels to Pikeville in eastern Kentucky, the heart of Appalachia, and sets her focus on a group at the center of the shifting political landscape: blue-collar men. There she uncovers what she calls the “pride paradox” and explores the hidden but powerful role of loss, shame, and pride in their views on many issues—including democracy.

“This is a book of listening and seeing the rightwing world through a certain emotional lens,” Hochschild tells us. “One man I came to know described Donald Trump as ‘lightning in a jar.’ This is a book about that lightning. It’s about the social and emotional ‘weather’ that pre-conditioned the lightning and led that jar to crack.” With unforgettable individuals that loom as large in the imagination as any fictional characters, Stolen Pride gives us an original interpretation of the political divide. Many of the people Hochschild comes to know are mulling over whether or not their jobs, their region, and their self-worth have simply been lost or—as Donald Trump tells them about the 2020 election—have been “stolen.”

Join us to hear Arlie Russell Hochschild be in conversation with journalist Angie Coiro for our popular cultural and political series, This Is Now.

About the Author
Arlie Russell Hochschild is the author of many groundbreaking books, including The Second Shift, The Managed Heart, and The Time Bind as well as Strangers in Their Own Land, which became an instant bestseller and was a finalist for a National Book Award, and Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right. Hochschild is professor emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Berkeley with her husband, the writer Adam Hochschild.

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