47 pages • 1 hour read
Arlie Russell HochschildA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.
The author begins this study with an inquiry into what she terms the “Great Paradox”—a tendency amongst right-wing voters (especially those who espouse Tea Party beliefs) in under-resourced states to vote against their own social and economic interests. She is particularly interested in environmental pollution and environmental regulations, and she asks herself: “How can such a polluted state take such a dim view of government regulation of polluters” (55)? Among other similar studies, she notices a tendency to examine only the social and economic factors that impact political belief formation and voting patterns, and she wonders what role emotions play in these processes. As a result of years of interviews with subjects in and around Lake Charles, Louisiana, all of whom self-identify as Tea Party Republicans, she articulates what she calls the “deep story.” Deep stories are narratives of self, society, and nation that feel true to an individual or a group. At the end of her study, she concludes that the deep stories of Tea Party voters do more to shape their political identities than facts and figures and even lived experience: Affect is more important to most voters than fact.
Initially, the author finds three key factors that impact political identity that are profoundly impacted by emotion: After conducting a series of interviews with multiple subjects, commonalities begin to emerge.
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By Arlie Russell Hochschild
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