Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents
The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
NAMED THE #1 NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME, ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People • The Washington Post • Publishers Weekly AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • NPR • Bloomberg • Christian Science Monitor • New York Post • The New York Public Library • Fortune • Smithsonian Magazine • Marie Claire • Town & Country • Slate • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews • LibraryReads • PopMatters
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist • Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist • PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Longlist
“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.”
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.
Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents
Isabel Wilkerson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Warmth of Other Suns," examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how it goes far beyond race in defining who we are. She reveals how our lives and worldviews have been indelibly shaped by a hidden hierarchy, and explores its surprising resilience.
Wilkerson argues that caste is the defining force behind both historical and contemporary social divisions. She traces the origins of caste back to ancient India, and shows how it was brought to America by European colonists. She then demonstrates how caste has been perpetuated through a variety of means, including laws, customs, and beliefs. Caste, Wilkerson shows, is not simply a matter of skin color or ancestry, but a deeply ingrained social structure that shapes our lives in countless ways.
Wilkerson's book is a powerful and thought-provoking examination of a complex and enduring social phenomenon. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the true story of America.
Here are some of the key themes in "Caste":
- Caste is a global phenomenon, and it exists in every society to some degree.
- Caste is not simply a matter of skin color or ancestry, but a deeply ingrained social structure that shapes our lives in countless ways.
- Caste is perpetuated through a variety of means, including laws, customs, and beliefs.
- Caste has a profound impact on our lives, shaping our opportunities, our relationships, and our sense of identity.
- Caste is a barrier to social mobility and equality.
"Caste" is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the true story of America. It is a powerful and thought-provoking examination of a complex and enduring social phenomenon.
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