Strangers In Their Own Land – Why Do People Fall Into The Arms Of Donald Trump?

Arlie Russel Hochschild, a sociology professor emerita at UC Berkeley and author of The Second Shift and The Outsourced Self, will discuss her most recent book, Strangers in Their Own Land; Anger and Mourning on the American Right.

Over five years, Hochschild got to know people in the Louisiana bayou country – stronghold of the conservative right. How, she wondered, could those in the poorest state in the nation disparage help from the federal government? How could residents of a highly polluted area resist the idea of regulating polluters? Most of all what was the appeal of Donald Trump?

Hochschild’s book explores what she calls their “deep story” and behind it, their fear of losing a familiar world, their dread of economic decline, and suspicion of government betrayal. Most of all, they understand themselves, she observes, as a forgotten and demeaned “minority group.” After her presentation, there will be time for questions and discussion.