Accompanying the online reflection “Crossing Divides in a Precarious Future: The White Working Class and the Upcoming General Election” Arlie Russell Hochschild provided resource recommendations on the topics of American right, the polarization of politics, and the dismantling of the working class.
- Listen Liberal: Or What Ever Happened to the Party of the People, Thomas Frank
“This is an illuminating polemic which traces the present divide between the Democratic Party and the working class.” — Arlie Russell Hochschild
- Saving Capitalism, Bob Reich
“This speaks to an important class divide we don’t focus on, both Republican—between small capital and big capital—and points to an important tension in the Republican Party.” — Arlie Russell Hochschild
- The Hidden Injuries of Class, Richard Sennett and Jonathan Cobb
“This is a deep and important work. Though not an easy read (as if the core was hard for the authors to feel) tells of the anguish of a blue-collar father who sacrifices himself to his son to go to college and rise, and then feels left behind. Ultimately It’s about dignity.” — Arlie Russell Hochschild
- The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good, Michael Sandel
“An important book about the maldistribution of dignity. Here are my thoughts about it. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/books/review/the-tyranny-of-merit-michael-j-sandel.html” — Arlie Russell Hochschild
- Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, Anne Case and Angus Deaton
“This lays out the plight of white working class Americans—whose story is loss—including loss of the status of race. The book is in the tables which are clear and devastating. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/books/review/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism-anne-case-angus-deaton.html” — Arlie Russell Hochschild
As part of the Berkeley Democracy and Public Theology Program, BCSR’s Public Forum on Religion and Pandemic brings together scholars and the public to address the current pandemic and its commensurate crises, exploring the intersection between religion and timely topics such as the environment, public health, elections and democracy, religious freedom, and nationalism in order to foster dialogue and reflection.
The Berkeley Public Forum on Religion and Pandemic is generously sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation