Summary and Analysis of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Based on the Book by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Worth Books

• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781504044936
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Conservatism & Liberalism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Strangers in Their Own Land tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Arlie Russell Hochschild's book.
 
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
 
This short summary and analysis of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right includes:
 

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter overviews
• Character profiles
• Detailed timeline of events
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

 
About Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild:
 
Renowned sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild seeks to understand why some American conservatives continue to vote for policies that ultimately harm them. She traveled to Louisiana to complete a five-year study, talking to members of the Tea Party and attempting to breach the "empathy wall" that stands between conservatives and liberals.
 
A compassionate observer, Hochschild pursues the heart of the "deeper story," blaming the narrative—not her subjects—that informs these peoples' choices. She particularly examines the long history of environmental pollution in the region and the state governments' failure to address it—a failure that this political faction refuses to condemn.
 
Strangers in Their Own Land is a compelling analysis of one of the most important factors in American culture today, and Hochschild's measured and empathic approach leads her readers toward a greater understanding of their fellow citizens.
 
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
 

Summary

Preface

Hochschild is concerned about the increasing political divide in America. While liberals feel that the Republican Party is looking for ways to demolish the federal government and reduce or stop help to the poor and vulnerable, conservatives believe that the Democrats are a liberal and bloated elite that spend large amounts of money in exchange for votes. Hailing from the left-leaning San Francisco Bay Area, Hochschild is familiar with the left’s position, but not the right’s.

Hochschild’s earlier research on paid parental leave drives much of her initial questioning—for example, her time spent with medical insurance representative Sharon Galicia, an enthusiastic and bright Tea Party supporter who could benefit considerably from paid parental leave, and yet whose chosen party opposes it.

As the child of a foreign service worker, Hochschild was brought up in an environment of questioning, but also one of reaching out—seeking to understand people who are different from herself. In researching this book, she feels that she is once again seeking to understand people in a foreign land, but this time, the land is her own.

Part One: The Great Paradox

1. Traveling to the Heart

The political divide between Republicans and Democrats is only getting wider. There are now forty-five million people (about 15% of Americans) who support the Tea Party. The “empathy walls”—the obstacles to a deep understanding of a person who has different beliefs—are growing higher. The single issue that most clearly indicates political direction is belief in climate change. Most Tea Party voters and many conservative citizens simply don’t believe in it, yet red states have higher rates of pollution—in addition to divorce, teen pregnancy, obesity, and lower life expectancy—and their residents continually vote to defund federal and state departments regulating education, environmental protection, Medicare, Pell grants, and more.

One such voter is Mike Schaff, an elderly Louisiana resident whose grandfather ran a sugarcane plantation. Mike himself became involved in the oil industry, and ironically, was forced to leave his home as the result of an ecological disaster caused by an under-regulated drilling company. Yet he is also a Tea Party supporter, opposed to heavier regulation of oil and other industries. Why, Hochschild asks, do people vote for policies that don’t help them and improve their lives?

There are several theories. Alec MacGillis, writing in the New York Times, proposes the “two notches up” thesis. For instance, rich people who have their own healthcare or send their children to private school vote to defund public healthcare or education, while those who do use those public services don’t vote. But Hochschild feels that doesn’t fully explain it, because affluent people who disapprove of these services still use them.

Hochschild seeks other explanations—for instance, regionalism. Historically, communities in the liberal Northeast believed in a government for the common good, while those in the South resisted federal power. Although, this doesn’t tell the whole story either: Most far-right voters are white, low to middle class, married, Christian, and older, and they live all across the United States.

Perhaps the right-led media, such as Fox News, or rich Tea Party investors, such as the Koch brothers, are misleading people? But in all of these ideas, Hochschild finds an absence: the emotional core of voting. What do people really feel about a range of issues? What are they told they ought to feel? To understand the Tea Party voter, Hochschild scales the empathy wall and digs deeper; this is a human story as much as political one.

She bases herself in Lake Charles, Louisiana, a state where half of the residents support the Tea Party. Over a five-year period, Hochschild compiles more than four thousand pages of interview transcripts with over forty Tea Party supporters.

2. “One Thing Good”

Hochschild interviews Lee Sherman, an elderly man who used to work at Pittsburgh Plate Glass, a local plant. While there, he was subjected to several industrial accidents—once, his clothes were entirely burned off his body. He was also asked to take a gurney full of chemicals down to the edge of the shore of Bayou d’Inde and release the contents into the water, twice a day, for years. He didn’t like it, but he was afraid of losing his job and his livelihood. Gradually, the life in the bayou—the pelicans, the turtles, the egrets, and the fish—died, and Sherman himself grew ill from exposure to these chemicals. Louisiana had become the number one hazardous-waste producer in the region. Prodded by his conscience, Sherman is now an ardent environmentalist, and has publicly spoken out against the plant’s dumping. Even still, he supports a politician who campaigns for cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. He is at the heart of what Hochschild calls the “Great Paradox.”

Lee is typical of people who feel betrayed by the federal government, a feeling they usually arrive at in one of three ways: religion (they believe the government curbs religious rights); a distrust of taxes (which they feel are too high); and the loss of honor (which Hochschild will explain in later chapters). The way Lee sees it, although Pittsburgh Plate Glass treated him—and the environment—poorly, at least they paid him; meanwhile, the IRS seems to only want to take money away. Compounding these beliefs is the echo chamber in which he lives: Fox News, his church, and other conservative members of his community.

3. The Rememberers

Harold Areno is a seventy-seven-year-old Cajun pipefitter living on the contaminated Bayou d’Inde. His family has lived there for three generations and survived partly off the land—fishing and growing vegetables. But when industrial plants came to the region, the fish died and the air began to smell. Most of their relatives and neighbors died young from cancer; Harold and his wife, Annette, are both cancer survivors. Harold no longer eats fish from the bayou, but his son, Derwin, born in 1962, eats them occasionally. Like Lee Sherman, Harold worked at Pittsburgh Plate Glass.

Although they think industry should do more to clean up the bayou, they nevertheless vote for Republican candidates who believe in relaxing restrictions on corporations and defunding environmental agencies. “We vote for candidates that put the Bible where it belongs,” says Harold. The Areno family believes in climate change through their Bible study; the Book of Revelation speaks of ruin, which they think is environmental. Yet the Arenos are somewhat unusual in their belief. Many others in the region choose instead to believe in commercial and industrial “progress.” Regardless of climate issues, the Arenos vote for candidates that cater to their moral concerns such as pro-life policies.

4. The Candidates

Hochschild attends several rallies for congressional Republican candidates Charles Boustany and Jeff Landry. She wonders how the candidates are going to approach issues of industrial pollution—which affect so many of the state’s inhabitants—and why a poor...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Summary
• Timeline
• Cast of Characters
• Direct Quotes and Analysis
• Trivia
• What’s That word?
• Critical Response
• About Arlie Russell Hochschild
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright