A review by amandakitz
Where We Stand: Class Matters by bell hooks

4.0

bell hooks never fails to deliver piercing critical analysis and this book is no different. She weaves her own story and perspective into this series of essays to bring it to life, while each step of the way showing the myriad ways class intersects with racism, sexism, religion, and other influences in our culture. Her style is accessible and academic, clear and scholarly without being aloof, and the book is short enough to be reasonable for the average person.

Some folks expressed disappointment in the lack of citation and I wished she had directly addressed felony status disenfranchisement and the prison industrial complex, but having read her other works, it's clear that her arguments are based in decades of writing and research as one of the foremost thinkers on these subjects and not lacking foundation. This book is not meant to be her academic opus but clearly serves a function as an accessible, unencumbered introduction to class consciousness. I can recommend no better place to begin a journey toward class consciousness in the US.