"When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, a bewildered nation turned to Strangers in Their Own Land to understand what Trump voters were thinking when they cast their ballots. Arlie Hochschild, one of the most influential sociologists of her generation, had spent the preceding five years immersed in the community around Lake Charles, Louisiana, a Tea Part stronghold. As Jedediah Purdy put it in the New Republic, "Hochschild is fascinated by how people make sense of their lives... [Her] attentive, detailed portraits... reveal a gulf between Hochschild's 'strangers in their own land' and a new elite." Lauded by commentators from Noam Chomsky to New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu, Hochschild's book was described by the New York Times' David Brooks as "humble and important." A new afterword to this paperback edition describes how the Louisianans she interviewed feel about recent events, especially the ongoing presidency of Donald Trump. A reading group guide appears at the back of the book"--Back cover. |