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Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Strangers in Their Own Land is Arlie Russell Hochschild's attempt to understand the American Right from the inside — specifically, why working-class white Louisianans who live in a state ravaged by the petrochemical industry vote for politicians who oppose the regulations that might clean it up.
Arlie Russell Hochschild · 2016 · 6h 0m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Hochschild says she wanted to scale the 'empathy wall.' Did the book make you understand the people she writes about? Is understanding the same as empathy?
- 2.
The deep story she constructs is a narrative about waiting in line and being cut. How accurate is that story as a description of the economic changes of the last fifty years?
- 3.
The people in the book live in a polluted landscape they love. How do you understand the attachment to a place that is also destroying your health?
- 4.
Hochschild is explicit about her own political views. Does that transparency make her more or less trustworthy as a reporter on this community?
- 5.
Why do federal environmental agencies generate distrust even in communities most harmed by pollution? Is the distrust rational?
- 6.
The petrochemical companies are embedded in community life through jobs, sponsorships, and charity. What would it take to replace that with something better?
- 7.
The book was published in 2016. Has the argument aged well? What has changed and what has remained constant in the politics it describes?
- 8.
Hochschild argues that condescension from coastal elites feeds the resentment she documents. Is she right? And what would a non-condescending alternative politics look like?
- 9.
The deep story is about pride, honor, and displacement. How does race fit into that story, and how honestly does the book address that dimension?
- 10.
Did reading this book change how you think about someone you know who holds the political views Hochschild investigates?
- 11.
The people she writes about often say they want government out of their lives, but they also receive Social Security, Medicare, and farm subsidies. How do they reconcile that?
- 12.
Is the project of 'understanding the other side' inherently valuable, or does it carry risks of normalizing positions that should be opposed?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right?
Here are 12 book club questions for Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on political polarization, class and identity, environmental politics.
How long should a book club discussion of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right?
Political polarization, Class and identity, Environmental politics, Empathy, The American Right. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right or questions for other book club picks.
