{"id":24673,"date":"2021-01-23T11:59:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T15:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=24673"},"modified":"2021-02-04T00:07:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T04:07:57","slug":"arlie-hochschild-strangers-in-their-own-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/arlie-hochschild-strangers-in-their-own-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlie Hochschild: Strangers in Their Own Land Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Arlie Hochschild Strangers in Their Own Land<\/em> book about? What ideas does the book present about conservative voters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land<\/em> seeks to tackle the conservative paradox and how we can overcome the empathy wall<\/a> to build a better country. She examines conservative policies and why people continue to vote against their own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Arlie Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land<\/em>, and conservative beliefs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Arlie Hochschild: Strangers in Their Own Land<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right<\/em>, sociologist Arlie Hochschild seeks to understand the social, cultural, and emotional forces driving right-wing politics,<\/strong> in an effort to move past the partisan divide and approach American politics from a position of empathy <\/em>for those on the right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People on the opposite sides of the political divide<\/a> are not just separated by political beliefs. They are also separated by an empathy wall\u2014a barrier that prevents them from achieving a deep understanding<\/a> of the other side. The empathy wall causes us to feel hostile and dismissive toward those with whom we disagree politically, making it nearly impossible to find common ground and work toward solutions to our society\u2019s pressing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By breaking down this empathy wall, we can come to truly inhabit the emotional world of the right, giving us insight into why <\/em>these voters believe what they believe\u2014and why those beliefs might make sense given these voters\u2019 experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conservative Paradox<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Arlie Hochschild’s Strangers in Their Own Land<\/em>, she discusses the conservative paradox. If we\u2019re going to overcome the empathy wall between liberals and conservatives, we need to first explore what appears to be an inexplicable phenomenon of American politics: that the most conservative, heavily Republican states in the country are enduring immense suffering\u2014often as a result of the anti-government, anti-tax, pro-business policies favored by the politicians who represent them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the conservative South, states and counties lag behind the rest of the country across nearly every measurement of human development\u2014to the great frustration and puzzlement of many on the left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conservative state of Louisiana ranks near the very bottom of all 50 states across most quality-of-life measurements<\/strong>, including life expectancy, health outcomes, median income, educational attainment, and pollution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GOP\u2019s electoral dominance has resulted in a business climate that enables polluters to operate with a free hand. Despite their political loyalty, ordinary Louisianans have suffered extraordinary abuse at the hands of a largely unregulated corporate sector. Even when the negligence of petrochemical companies results in the wholesale destruction of a community (as happened in 2012 in a Louisiana town called Bayou Corne, when a drilling company accidentally created a massive sinkhole that forced the evacuation of the town) residents denounced government <\/em>as the culprit. The conservative paradox leads these voters into a self-destructive feedback loop in which:<\/p>\n\n\n\n