After the 2016 election, pundits and commentators questioned aloud: How did Trump win the rural, white poor? Why did they (seemingly) vote against their own economic interests? To many, the answer was anger, fueled by unemployment, identity politics, and bigotry. To others, it was due to a campaign of misinformation decades in the making, formed by an intense, right-wing "fake news" media bubble. But either way, it was difficult, perhaps impossible, for those on the outside to understand those within these communities--yet it is our ethical responsibility to aim for this, as both polymaths and citizens.
This barrier to mutual understanding is what Arlie Hochschild, one of the most significant sociologists of her generation, termed the "empathy wall." Hochschild spent the five years prior to 2016 immersed in the community around Lake Charles, Louisiana, a Tea Party stronghold; she was looking to understand the cultural and economic forces that, over time, have influenced the conviction in conservatism amongst many poor, white communities. Hochschild chronicled this experience and her distinct interpretations in Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, which was named in the Best Books of 2016 by Kirkus Reviews and became a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award.
In partnership with the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, the Harman Academy is excited to welcome Arlie Hochschild to USC for a polymathic conversation on the election of Donald Trump. We invite students and faculty of all political persuasions to come and engage on the clear relevance of her themes to our lives as scholars and citizens. Joining her will be Professor Tara McPherson, Director of the Harman Academy and leading scholar in the cultural and political dimensions of media (as well as a native Louisianan!), for a conversation starting with the 2016 election, with the promise of looking through perspectives drastically different from one's own.