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A review by bookedbymadeline
Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Thank you netgalley and The New Press for the eARC!
As someone who studied both sociology and political science, I was really excited to read this. It was very readable and easily accessible, sometimes reading like a novel.
As someone who studied both sociology and political science, I was really excited to read this. It was very readable and easily accessible, sometimes reading like a novel.
Hochschild interviews residents across different backgrounds- white, Black, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, middle aged, elderly, youth, republicans, liberal, moderates-across Kentucky’s 5th Congressional district, namely Pikeville. KY-5 is the second poorest and whitest district in the USA.
As she interviews people from all backgrounds to get a full picture, it also meant she interviewed neo nazis like the leader of the March. It was difficult to read his sections because of all the hate he had and denial of things like slavery and the Holocaust.
As she interviews people from all backgrounds to get a full picture, it also meant she interviewed neo nazis like the leader of the March. It was difficult to read his sections because of all the hate he had and denial of things like slavery and the Holocaust.
In 2017 a neo nazi group marched in Pikeville before the infamous Charlottesville March. The area has seen loss of jobs as the coal mines close as well as an increase in opioid drug use/overdoses. Hochschild looks at the residents from 2016-2023 and how they went from Democrats to Republicans so rapidly, while also looking at the history/culture of the region.
This book offers an empathetic view of why many rural residents, specifically in this district, have voted republican. Trying to bridge the gap of republicans and democrats, to approach a conversation and understand each other. Where many interviewees have expressed their feelings of shame and blame from liberals calling them names and stereotyping them as “hillbillies” as well as using ableist language as insults towards them. Hochschild offers a view into their lives to explore the culture and community of eastern Kentucky and how the pride paradox has caused a rift in the US political landscape.
One of the most interesting concepts was the “Pride paradox”- where they blame themselves for failures and have the ‘pick yourself up by the bootstraps mentality’ (Protestant Ethic) and the pride of being hard working, wanting the American dream, and hometown pride as most of the residents have been there all their lives. Essentially “if I succeed it’s because of me, and if I fail it’s my fault.”
I learned a lot of Kentucky and their politics, such as how the state gerrymanders the number of reps they get in the House by including prisoners while still excluding their eligibility to vote which was infuriating.
Author and subjects look at issues around race, social class, and privilege. One person talked about his feeling shame and anger at stereotypes about being racist because he’s white, poor, and rural and he doesn’t feel heard by any politicians because of his social class (“republicans are rich and racist and democrats don’t seem to care about anything except race, gender, and sexual identity”). He also discussed the idea of privilege and how he feels he has more in common with poor black people than other white people of varying social classes, but because he’s white, people assume he doesn’t know what it’s like to struggle. For this it’s easy to understand because of course he has white privilege compared to POC but he doesn’t have privilege when it comes to social class, but if you just say “privilege” not everyone understands the varying levels and how different it can be even within your own race. Many in the area associate privilege with having an easy “hoity toity” life and they haven’t as many worked hard labor, suffered through addiction, lost jobs, etc.
Some interviewees even discussed how they feel like they have more in common with blue collar Black people and immigrants because of their shared class and economic struggles. But they still vote for trump because he wasn’t like other politicians. It’s a confusing paradox to be sure but it also makes some sense in a way because if your region is hard hit and politicians have been ignoring you/abandoning their constituents until election season, why wouldn’t you take a chance on someone outside of politics?
As much as I personally disagree with Trump and will never understand how people can ignore how racist, sexist, homophobic he is and still vote for him, I can empathize with their feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Many had lost their jobs, living in poverty, and felt alienated by the Democratic Party as the candidates pushed for things like clean energy whereas these people dedicated their entire lives for generations to coal.
I’d highly recommend if you want to understand the politics and culture of Eastern Kentucky, specifically the Appalachian hollers, and the shift they had from blue to red.
As much as I personally disagree with Trump and will never understand how people can ignore how racist, sexist, homophobic he is and still vote for him, I can empathize with their feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Many had lost their jobs, living in poverty, and felt alienated by the Democratic Party as the candidates pushed for things like clean energy whereas these people dedicated their entire lives for generations to coal.
I’d highly recommend if you want to understand the politics and culture of Eastern Kentucky, specifically the Appalachian hollers, and the shift they had from blue to red.
TW/CW: racism, holocaust (and holocaust deniers), slavery, child abuse, violence, drug abuse, classism, alcoholism, addiction, suicide, domestic violence, death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide