Stolen Pride

Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right

By: Arlie Russell Hochschild

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

In her first book since the widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land, National Book Award finalist and best-selling author Arlie Russell Hochschild now ventures to Appalachia, uncovering the "pride paradox" that has given the right's appeals such resonance.

For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we've ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel "stolen"?

Hochschild's research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation, where the city was reeling: coal jobs had left, crushing poverty persisted, and a deadly drug crisis struck the region. Although Pikeville was in the political center thirty years ago, by 2016, 80 percent of the district's population voted for Donald Trump. Her brilliant exploration of the town's response to a white nationalist march in 2017—a rehearsal for the deadly Unite the Right march that would soon take place in Charlottesville, Virginia—takes us deep inside a torn and suffering community.

Hochschild focuses on a group swept up in the shifting political landscape: blue-collar men. In small churches, hillside hollers, roadside diners, trailer parks, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Hochschild introduces us to unforgettable people, and offers an original lens through which to see them and the wider world. In Stolen Pride, Hochschild incisively explores our dangerous times, even as she also points a way forward.

©2024 Arlie Russell Hochschild (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A piercing ... impressive and nuanced assessment of a critical factor in American politics." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Gripping and insightful

Compelling and compassionate insight from thorough research. Highly recommend for people who want to understand the political and cultural divide in our country.

Window into Appalachia

EVERY AMERICAN POLITICIAN AND OR ANY AMERICAN PERSON INVOLVED IN POLITICS SHOULD READ THIS asap

Making sense out of the political times l live in?

Honest sociologist research with reasonable summaries is what I needed to process what I lived through since Trump’s mesmerizing actions polarized voters. This book appealed to my need to process with my mind why I am so disturbed by the heated political climate.

Excellent book

I gained an understanding of the current state of the US public and its potential implications.

The individual stories of rural americans

I learned a lot about myself and people who were different from me. I was able to walk in others shoes