Surely the recent election
season pointed to the need for more civil discourse in this country and Ben
Sasse, Republican Senator for Nebraska, has just written a book titled THEM: Why We Hate Each Other and How to
Heal. The various chapters focus
on our loneliness and the resulting anger that is displayed as a result of fear
and a feeling of not belonging. Instead of pursuing elusive personal happiness,
Sasse offers more traditional advice: love your neighbor and connect with your
community. Expanding upon work by social scientists like Robert Putnam (Bowling
Alone), Sasse says, “Our isolation has deprived us of healthy local tribes
with whom we share values and goals and ways of life that uplift us and so we
fall into ‘anti-tribes,’ defined by what we’re against rather than what we’re
for.” Certainly, several Junior Themers will be interested in the concept of
“rootedness.” In addition, this title has relevance for our work on “fake
news,” misinformation, and filter bubbles – or the “polititainment” and polarization
which Sasse decries.
PRIUS OR PICKUP? by Marc
Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler also explores “why the [political] parties and
the people who identify with them seem more like tribal enemies than members of
a single national community who disagree about some things.” Hetherington and Weiler
argue that people tend to have either more of a “fluid” or “fixed” worldview,
where the former see a world full of mostly good people and the latter feel
threatened and see protection of oneself as a high priority. The authors explain
that conservatives are actually apt to have greater startle and disgust responses,
something they contend is tied to choices in education and occupation, noting differences
between management’s bottom-line orientation (more fixed) and the creativity (or
fluidness) of other professions. PRIUS OR PICKUP? is an accessible text which includes charts
documenting differences in worldviews and party identification, as well as
attitudes about military force, gender, LGBT issues, and immigration.
GOOD AND MAD by Rebecca Traister deals with “The Revolutionary
Power of Women's Anger” as noted in the subtitle.
In fact, Traister, who also wrote
All the Single Ladies, provides
historical context and alludes to various cycles reflecting women’s anger including
1920’s suffragettes, 1970’s ERA and today’s Women’s March and #MeToo movement.
Throughout, she points to a double standard in terms of women’s actions and
attitudes as well as the tension between white women and women of color. Filled
with quotes (like Sara Robinson saying, “Women’s rage has been sublimated for
so long that there’s simply no frame for what happens when it finally comes to
the surface”), Traister extensively documents how women are taught to suppress
anger. Her work is highly relevant for our students and recent graduates; she
summarizes work by a sociology professor at Oklahoma State University as follows:
“about half of women in their late twenties who’ve experienced harassment start
looking for a new job within two years of the incident. For those who’ve
endured more serious harassment the figure is around 80 percent- and many opt
to leave their chosen profession altogether: to start over, often in less
male-dominated fields, which, of course, tend to be lower-paying.” There’s a
hopeful note as she comments on the opportunity and necessity to be a catalyst
for change, although “the process of change was going to be slow, hard and
often circular.” A surprisingly dense text,
GOOD AND MAD received starred
reviews from Booklist (“fiery tome”),
Kirkus (“gripping call to
action”)
,
and Publishers Weekly. For more on this topic, see also Rage Becomes
Her: The Power of Women’s Anger by Soraya Chemaly.
Surely the recent election
season pointed to the need for more civil discourse in this country and Ben
Sasse, Republican Senator for Nebraska, has just written a book titled THEM: Why We Hate Each Other and How to
Heal. The various chapters focus
on our loneliness and the resulting anger that is displayed as a result of fear
and a feeling of not belonging. Instead of pursuing elusive personal happiness,
Sasse offers more traditional advice: love your neighbor and connect with your
community. Expanding upon work by social scientists like Robert Putnam (Bowling
Alone), Sasse says, “Our isolation has deprived us of healthy local tribes
with whom we share values and goals and ways of life that uplift us and so we
fall into ‘anti-tribes,’ defined by what we’re against rather than what we’re
for.” Certainly, several Junior Themers will be interested in the concept of
“rootedness.” In addition, this title has relevance for our work on “fake
news,” misinformation, and filter bubbles – or the “polititainment” and polarization
which Sasse decries. 
PRIUS OR PICKUP? by Marc
Hetherington and Jonathan Weiler also explores “why the [political] parties and
the people who identify with them seem more like tribal enemies than members of
a single national community who disagree about some things.” Hetherington and Weiler
argue that people tend to have either more of a “fluid” or “fixed” worldview,
where the former see a world full of mostly good people and the latter feel
threatened and see protection of oneself as a high priority. The authors explain
that conservatives are actually apt to have greater startle and disgust responses,
something they contend is tied to choices in education and occupation, noting differences
between management’s bottom-line orientation (more fixed) and the creativity (or
fluidness) of other professions. PRIUS OR PICKUP? is an accessible text which includes charts
documenting differences in worldviews and party identification, as well as
attitudes about military force, gender, LGBT issues, and immigration.
GOOD AND MAD by Rebecca Traister deals with “The Revolutionary
Power of Women's Anger” as noted in the subtitle. In fact, Traister, who also wrote All the Single Ladies, provides
historical context and alludes to various cycles reflecting women’s anger including
1920’s suffragettes, 1970’s ERA and today’s Women’s March and #MeToo movement.
Throughout, she points to a double standard in terms of women’s actions and
attitudes as well as the tension between white women and women of color. Filled
with quotes (like Sara Robinson saying, “Women’s rage has been sublimated for
so long that there’s simply no frame for what happens when it finally comes to
the surface”), Traister extensively documents how women are taught to suppress
anger. Her work is highly relevant for our students and recent graduates; she
summarizes work by a sociology professor at Oklahoma State University as follows:
“about half of women in their late twenties who’ve experienced harassment start
looking for a new job within two years of the incident. For those who’ve
endured more serious harassment the figure is around 80 percent- and many opt
to leave their chosen profession altogether: to start over, often in less
male-dominated fields, which, of course, tend to be lower-paying.” There’s a
hopeful note as she comments on the opportunity and necessity to be a catalyst
for change, although “the process of change was going to be slow, hard and
often circular.” A surprisingly dense text, GOOD AND MAD received starred
reviews from Booklist (“fiery tome”), Kirkus (“gripping call to
action”),
and Publishers Weekly. For more on this topic, see also Rage Becomes
Her: The Power of Women’s Anger by Soraya Chemaly. 
